Int. J. of Shipping and Transport Logistics to publish expanded papers from IAME 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the International Association of Maritime Economists Conference (3-5 July, 2013, Marseille, France) will be published by the International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics.

Call for papers: "Foreign Direct Investment in the Aftermath of the Current Global Economic Crisis"

For a special issue of the Global Business and Economics Review.

The level of globalisation in the contemporary business environment is indicated by the transmission and impact of the recent global financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis. International trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) are still the most important driving factors of globalization, and the latter has become more important than the former in the aftermath of the crisis.

 

UNCTAD statistics indicate that in 2008 – when the crisis was a global phenomenon – world FDI stock was approximately 26 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP), at the same time as the value of merchandise and services trade was approximately 33 percent of world GDP. The most recent data available from UNCTAD statistics indicates that world FDI stock was approximately 30 percent of world GDP in 2011, while the value of merchandise and services trade was approximately 23 percent of world GDP.

 

The aim of the special issue is to reveal the determinants, strategy and impact of internationalisation through FDI in the aftermath of the current global crisis.

 

The issue will primarily focus on – but will not be limited to – empirical research in the following indicative fields:

• Business strategy and origin of multinational corporations (MNCs)
• FDI determinants (motives and barriers)
• Impact of FDI (on economic growth, on employment, on output, etc.)
• FDI incentives and disincentives
• FDI and trade
• Mergers and acquisitions (M&As)
• Multinationals (MNCs/MNEs), political strategies and economic development

All submissions should adopt a global perspective and discuss the implications of the increasingly globalised business environment.

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 May, 2014

Notification to authors: 31 August, 2014

Special issue: "Nanoscale Science and Technology"

International Journal of Nanotechnology 10(5/6/7) 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the Nanoscale Science and Technology (NS&T’12) conference.

• Biomimetic physics: learning from nature's strategies of overcoming evolutionary crises
• Oxidation of Langmuir-Blodgett films of monounsaturated lipids studied by atomic force microscopy
• Transient adhesion mediated by ligand-receptor interaction on surfaces of variable nanotopography
• Electrical contacts to single nanowires: a scalable method allowing multiple devices on a chip. Application to a single nanowire radial p-i-n junction
• Optimisation of the physical properties of InAs/InGaAs/GaAs QDs heterostructures embedded p-i-n GaAs solar cell
• Relationship between the structural and electronic properties of n-GaAs layer grown on rough Si substrate by molecular beam epitaxy
• AA-CVD growth and ethanol sensing properties of pure and metal decorated WO3 nanoneedles
• Characterisation of aseptic sterilisation processes using an electronic nose
• Functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes for chemical vapour detection
• Improvement of a pesticide immunosensor performance using site-directed antibody immobilisation and carbon nanotubes
• Nanomaterials applied in medicine, cultural heritage and chemical sensor technology
• Investigation of the kink effect in indium-doped silicon for sub 100 nm N channel MOSFET technology
• Effect of carbon black nanoparticle on the morphology rheology and thermal properties of emulsion polymer blends
• Inactivation of E. coli bacteria by atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge
• Improved electrical characteristics of porous germanium photodiode obtained by phosphorus ion implantation
• Chronoamperometric-based detection of hydrogen peroxide using palladium nanoparticles
• Effect of functionalisation of MWCNTs on optical and morphological properties of MEH-PPV/MWCNTs nanocomposites
• Deposition temperature effects on optical and structural properties of amorphous silicon carbide films
• Negative differential resistance in carbon-silica nanocomposites
• Nanoapertures for AFM-based single-molecule force spectroscopy

Call for papers: "Recent Advances in Signal and Image Processing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics.

Recent developments in signal and image processing technologies have wide applications in human society that make life simpler. This special issue will provide a forum for researchers, industry professionals and academics to present research exploring the recent challenges and advances in signal and image processing.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at theInternational Conference on Consumer Electronics, Communications and Networks (CECNet 2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Signal identification
• Signal reconstruction
• Signal processing in communications
• Digital signal processing
• Multimedia signal processing
• Medical signal processing
• Speech processing
• Applied signal processing
• Coding and transmission
• Emerging technologies
• Image and signal processing applications
• Image formation
• Image scanning, display and printing
• Image acquisition and display
• Image and video processing
• Image and video analysis
• Image compression
• Face recognition
• Storage and retrieval
• 3-D image analysis
• Image/video storage

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 31 December, 2013
Acceptance/rejection notification: 31 January, 2014
Final paper due: 1 March, 2014

Int. J. of Shipping and Transport Logistics to publish expanded papers from ALRT 2014

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 6th ALRT Asian Logistics Roundtable & Conference (2-4 April 2014, Bangkok, Thailand) will be published by the International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics.

Special issue: "Entrepreneurship and Innovation"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 18(4) 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 10th Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research (IECER).

• Does the academic spin-off condition play a role in patent valuation?
• Determining factors in founding university spin-offs
• Succession in family firms: the impact of the transfer of capital
• Founding motives and venture performance: an empirical analysis of technology-oriented new ventures in Austria
• Influence of culture and governance structure on leadership behaviour of cluster managers and implications for cluster management effectiveness

Call for papers: "Advances in Wireless Sensor Networks and their Applications"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology.

Wireless sensor networks are currently receiving international attention, and are a highly multidisciplinary, cutting edge area of research.

 

They combine distributed sensing and information processing technology, embedded computing technology, wireless communication and network technology into an organic whole, which will lead to a communications revolution in wireless technology, and to a medical and industrial revolution in sensor technology, so as to realise in the physical world the connection of the computing and human worlds.

 

Embedded sensor networks have very broad application prospects and potential application value in many important fields, such as military defence, industry and agriculture, urban management, biological medical, environmental monitoring, disaster relief, anti-terrorism, remote monitoring, etc.

 

They have attracted attention from both academia and industry in many countries and are considered as one of the highly influential technologies in the 21st century.

 

This special issue will provide a forum for researchers, industry professionals and academics interested in the latest developments in wireless sensor networks and their applications.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Hardware design and implementation
• Operating systems and software
• Middleware and macroprogramming
• Communication and network protocols
• Information and signal processing
• Fundamental theoretical limits and algorithms
• Prototypes, field experiments, testbeds
• Novel applications, including urban sensing
• Security and fault tolerance

Important Dates

Submission deadline: 31 December, 2013

Acceptance/rejection notification: 31 January, 2014

Final paper due: 1 March, 2014

Special issue: "Managing the Dynamic Business and Entrepreneurship Development in Emerging Southeast Asian Markets"

Journal for Global Business Advancement 6(1) 2013

• Change of company ownership, CEO turnover and the origin of CEO: case from Indonesia
• Banking efficiency and performance: a test of banking characteristics in an emerging market
• Systematic risk and accounting determinants: a new perspective from an emerging market
• The relationship between risk-taking propensity and demographic characteristics among MSEs in Malaysia
• Investigation on zakat as an indicator for Moslem countries' economic growth

Additional Paper

• Mutual strategy relationship of Eilat vs. Aqaba as tourism destinations

Call for papers: "The Issues and Challenges of E-Banking Applications and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Electronic Finance.

Electronic finance (e-finance or e-banking) promises banking institutions and their customers several benefits. Hence various banking institutions in both developed and developing countries have implemented various electronic applications to enhance operations and customer service.

While studies on electronic banking in developed countries abound, there is little, if any, research on developing countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA is the larger of the two (SSA and Arab) geopolitical regions of Africa. The forty-nine countries in SSA have been further classified into four sub-groups: oil exporting (7), middle-income (11), low-income (14) and fragile (12) countries; Southern Sudan joined the region in 2012 but has no data available to place it in a particular sub-region.

For many years, the African continent has been neglected in many ways, including in academia, to the extent that a publication in a top IS journal (Mbarika et al, 2005) refers to Africa as the “neglected continent.” However, a recent UN Outlook report indicates that several SSA countries have experienced better economic growth rates than those of the United States, Western Europe and some Asian countries. Other reports have recognised Africa as the second-fastest growing region of the world only after Asia, and have highly praised the prospects of its economies (McKinsey Global Institute, 2010 and The Economist, 2011).

The purpose of this special issue is to create and distribute knowledge on e-finance/e-banking development and its application in Sub-Saharan economies. We are looking for theory development, empirical studies and qualitative studies for this issue.

References:
McKinsey Global Institute (2012), The Rise of Africa Consumer,http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_rise_of_the_African_consumer_3030
Mbarika, V., Okoli, C., Byrd, T., & Datta, P. (2005).The neglected continent of IS research: a research agenda for Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), 6(5), 130-170.
The Economist (2013), Afria rising, a hopeful continent, http:// http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21572377-african-lives-have-already-greatly-improved-over-past-decade-says-oliver-august/print
World Bank (2012), Regional Economic Outlook,http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2012/afr/eng/sreo1012.pdf

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Current e-banking development status in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Major issues and challenges facing e-banking development in SSA
• Comparative studies about e-banking applications and development differences between developed, developing and SSA countries
• Case studies on e-banking development status in SSA
• Emerging m-banking - mobile technology such as wireless network and mobile devices that directly facilitate banking services in SSA
• Application of innovative e-banking services in SSA countries to improve banking industry as a whole
• Analysis of political, economic, social, legal and cultural environment in e-banking development in SSA
• Government support and e-banking development in SSA
• The relationship between nations' IT technology infrastructures and e-banking development in SSA
• The relationship between nations' general public education of modern IT technology and e-banking development in SSA
• The relationship between countries' banking industry history and e-banking development in SSA
• The impact of government regulations and policies on e-banking development in SSA
• The issues and challenges of e-banking development in rural and remote areas of SSA
• The current status of telephone-banking, PC-banking, internet-banking and m-banking in SSA
• The economic analysis of e-banking: cost and benefit tradeoff in SSA
• Performance evaluation of e-banking systems in SSA
• Technological issues in e-banking development in SSA
• Reviews of the application of e-banking services in SSA
• Human-computer interaction issues in e-banking system in SSA
• Privacy and security issues in e-banking development in SSA
• Critical success factors for e-banking development in SSA
• Different cultural perceptions of e-banking services in SSA
• E-payment systems including mobile money in SSA
• E-stock markets in SSA
• Internet banking innovations and challenges
• Internet adoption and use among microfinance institutions - reaching the unbanked
• Regulatory environments of internet/e-banking innovations in SSA
• Electronic financial fraud in SSA
• Electronic payment security in SSA
• Social innovations in electronic payment systems in SSA
• Policy readiness in electronic finance in SSA
• Strategic analysis of development of electronic payments in SSA
• Sub-regional comparative studies on e-finance development and/or applications
• The future of m-learning

Important DatesPaper submission deadline: 1 July, 2013
Notification of status and acceptance of paper: 31 August, 2013
Final version of paper: 15 October, 2013

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from InMed-2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the Innovation in Medicine & Healthcare conference (InMed-2013) (17-19 July 2013, University of Piraeus, Greece) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology
• International Journal of Computers in Healthcare

Call for papers: "Muscle Strength and Fatigue Modelling – Theory, Development and Implementation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation.

Human factors engineering is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to improving efficiency and productivity and reducing injuries and disorders, as well as to issues associated with usability, comfort, organisational design, etc.

 

To achieve these goals, it is often critical to understand human physical capabilities, including range of motion (ROM), muscle strength and fatigue, and the individual and environmental factors that affect them. Such knowledge is also important for rehabilitation science and related fields, as the prompt recovery of physical capabilities is essential for patients (e.g. to improve their quality of life and return quickly to work).

 

In recent decades, there has been a substantial increase in our abilities to solve ROM-related problems, such as reachability, due to the development of advanced, multi-joint kinematic theories and methods. On the other hand, existing knowledge regarding muscle strength and fatigue remains inadequate in several respects, and is often limited to single-joint and task-specific levels. This lack of applicable knowledge is largely a result of the inherent complexity of muscle strength and fatigue, and of current limitations in theories and methods for modelling and assessing these aspects of human capabilities.

 

This special issue will report on the frontiers of research on muscle strength and fatigue, including theories, modelling techniques and assessment methods. New data on muscle strength and fatigue are also considered critical, particularly for purposes of evaluation and design. Articles providing original research, systematic literature reviews and/or overviews of historical and current developments are sought.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Single- and multi-joint muscle capacity (strength)
• Theories and methods related to modelling multi-joint and/or multi-planar muscle strength
• Experimental and analytic methods for muscle force assessment, particularly under submaximal exertion conditions
• Prediction of muscle strength based on anatomical features of muscles including cross-sectional area, fiber pennation angle and moment arm, and their changes with varying joint angles and exertion levels
• Quantitative analyses of muscle strength differences between healthy and physically impaired populations
• Novel working definitions of fatigue at the joint and whole body levels that are suitable for workplace implementation
• Fatigue assessment and/or measurement, both locally and globally (whole body)
• Theories and methods for fatigue modelling, including data-driven, physiology-based and phenomenological (parameter-based) approaches
• Prediction and control of fatigue in the workplace, for tasks involving either simple (e.g. prolonged static) or more complex (e.g. repetitive, intermittent) exertions
• Prediction and control of fatigue in rehabilitation, for treatments involving natural (e.g. exercise) and/or artificial (e.g. functional electrical stimulation) techniques
• Data on muscle fibre-type composition and relevant assessment methods
• Critical review of studies on muscle strength and fatigue for the purposes of meta-analysis, reliability analysis or database generation

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 15 November, 2013

Notification to authors: 28 February, 2014

Revised versions due: 31 March, 2014

Final versions due: 30 April, 2014

Special issue: "Network Forensics, Security and Privacy"

International Journal of Security and Networks 7(4) 2012

Includes expanded versions of papers presented at the International Workshop of Network Forensics, Security and Privacy, a joint workshop of the 32nd International Conference of Distributed Computing Systems.

• Modelling and evaluating a high serviceability fault tolerance strategy in cloud computing environments
• A collaborative botnets suppression system based on overlay network
• A novel middleware-based approach for redundant reader elimination using PSO
• Internet of things' authentication and access control
• BDD-based two-party trust sensitivity analysis for social networks
• Semi-supervised and compound classification of network traffic

The three A’s of ICT and disability

Individuals with disabilities could achieve academic success and have careers on a par with non-disabled people if information and communication technologies were designed to take into account their needs equally with the able-bodied, according to researchers in Canada. The key is aiming for availability, affordability and accessibility, the team says.

Writing in a recent issue of the International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, Maria Barile of the Adaptech Research Network, in Montreal, and colleagues there and at McGill University, explain that universal design of ICTs is a first step to reducing poverty and enhancing human rights for the disabled and the able-bodied. The researchers’ conclusions are based on Adaptech’s ten-year body of empirical studies in education and ICTs for post-secondary learners with disabilities.

Literacy in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is an absolute necessity for inclusion and full citizenship in the new knowledge-based economy, the team asserts. For individuals with disabilities, access to ICTs is often problematic because historically technology has not been designed for accessibility because the needs of the disabled were not acknowledged. As has been said before: technology for the non-disabled makes things easier, for people with disabilities it makes things possible. The team points out that making ICTs more equitable will raise academic standards, which in turn will reduce unemployment and poverty among the disabled; a poignant issue in Canada where people with disabilities are severely underemployed and where even those in work live below the poverty line.

Their analysis of the data leads to 9 principles that could help society achieve ICT equitability:

1. Equitable use – The design does not disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users.


2. Flexibility in use – The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.


3. Simple, intuitive use – Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.


4. Perceptible information – The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.


5. Tolerance for error – The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.


6. Low physical effort – The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue.


7. Size and space for approach and use – Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use, regardless of the user’s body size, posture, or mobility.


8. A community of learners – The instructional environment promotes interaction and communication among students and between students and faculty.


9. Instructional climate – Instruction is designed to be welcoming and inclusive. High expectations are espoused for all.

Adhering to these principles in the universal design of ICTs will not stifle creativity nor productivity for the able-bodied but has the potential to make the three A’s of availability, affordability and accessibility a reality for people with disabilities.

“Enhancing human rights: computer and information technologies with access for all” in Int. J. Social and Humanistic Computing, vol 1, pp 396-407

The three A’s of ICT and disability is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot http://sciencespot.co.uk/the-three-as-of-ict-and-disability.html

The sunny side of the street

Sunflower seed husks, a huge waste product of the vegetable oil and food industry, could be used as an environmentally friendly filler, or aggregate, for concrete according to Turkish researchers writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management. The team demonstrated that the use of husks reduces the density of concrete as well as boosting the material’s resistance to cracking after exposure to icy then thawing conditions.

Engineers Can Burak Sisman and Erhan Gezer of Namik Kemal University in Turkey, explain how the accumulation of unmanaged wastes from the food industry, particularly in developing countries is becoming increasingly problematic. As such, researchers are hoping to find new applications for such waste in the creation of environmentally friendly materials and composites in the road-building and construction industries for instance. This is particularly pertinent given the rising cost and chronic shortages of conventional materials. Engineers are thus being challenged to convert industrial wastes to replacements for certain materials.

Concrete is perhaps one of the most energy and resource intensive materials and researchers have investigated and applied waste rubber, glass powder and paper waste sludge as alternative fillers and bulking agents. The addition of such materials can affect significantly the properties of concrete altering its strength, density and water resistance detrimentally in some instances.

The team has turned to the sunflower seed and more specifically its inedible husk as a possible alternative material for concrete. Turkey is the ninth largest sunflower producer in the world, generating almost a million tonnes of product from 584000 hectares, the bulk of which is used in the manufacture of sunflower oil in the Thrace region. The by-product is approximately 300000 tonnes of fibrous seed husk. The team has therefore experimented with different formulations of seed husk in a concrete mix.

They produced concrete samples with a density of around 2000 tonnes per cubic metre; the lowest density could be classified as “lightweight”. Some samples had low compressibility suitable for construction use although higher husk content meant the resulting concrete could be used only for insulation applications. The team suggests that the sunflower seed concrete would be most suitable for the construction of agricultural buildings that are usually only one floor and do not to be as sufficiently load bearing as domestic or office buildings.

“Sunflower seed waste as lightweight aggregate in concrete production” in Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, 2013, 12, 203-212

The sunny side of the street is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot http://sciencespot.co.uk/the-sunny-side-of-the-street.html

Call for papers: "Medical Informatics and Technology"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology.

Medical applications such as medical image analysis are becoming increasingly important in everyday life. But the success of these methodologies is still in doubt due to the human intervention in their systems. This indirectly highlights the necessity for automation techniques for these applications, which can improve the performance to higher extent. The major problem however is that the level of usage of automation techniques is very low in these applications.

 

This special issue will focus on exploring the applicability of various automation techniques for medical applications. The issue will also give emphasis to innovative methodologies for applications in medical informatics. This issue will thus serve as a platform for researchers to share their ideas and present solutions for human problems in the area of medical informatics.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Medical image processing
• Biomedical signal analysis
• Information security
• Telemedicine
• Data mining
• Medical image compression
• De-noising in medical images
• Soft computing approaches
• Animation and 3-D analysis
• Medical image understanding
• Bio-sensors
• Data transmission
• Modelling and statistical analysis
• Medical image classification and segmentation
• Hardware, medical equipment
• Any other topics related to medical informatics

Important Dates

Full paper submission: 22 July, 2013

Notification to authors: 22 August, 2013

Final version submission: 30 September, 2013

Special issue: "Public Policy in the European Union"

International Journal of Public Policy 9(1/2) 2013

• Credit rating agencies: are they credible?
• How reliable are budget sustainability tests? A case study for Greece
• Are health factors important for regional growth and convergence? An empirical analysis for the Portuguese districts
• Evaluation of dynamic pass-through of carbon prices into electricity prices - a cointegrated VECM analysis
• A statistical approach to identifying current leading indicators of the US recovery
• How should governments support the emergence of new industries in leading economies?
• Answer or publish - an online tool to bring down the barriers to participation in modern democracies

Teenage password security

Many of us are sharing increasing amounts of personal information through online social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others. However, according to Charlott Lorentzen, Markus Fiedler and Henric Johnson of the Blekinge Institute of Technology, School of Computing, in Karlskrona, Sweden, many of us are side-stepping apparently laborious security measures and putting our data at risk of being hijacked and used in identity theft and other fraud.

Writing in the International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems, the Swedish team points out that there are also more subtle risks associated with the carefree sharing of personal information, such as compromising situations potentially arising in both our private and professional lives should our data or the site on which it is hosted be accessed by malicious third parties.

At the forefront of the problem is the issue of using secure passwords. While no password can ever be 100 percent secure, annual surveys reveal that far too many users rely on simplistic names, dates, anniversaries and even plain dictionary words, like “password”, and strings of numbers “123456″ as their passwords because it is easier to remember. This, of course, provides a false sense of security when accessing some sites in which a simple brute-force attack on logins would quickly and easily expose the weakness in such passwords.

The Swedish team has surveyed teenage users of social media sites, the so-called digital natives born after the initial emergence into the mainstream of the internet, mobile computing and social media sites. They surveyed two groups: one at a secondary school and compared their password use with staff members at a technology institute. They also asked the teenagers about their perception of online safety and risk. The passwords and attitudes of 67 male and 70 female teenagers were analysed and data correlated with the students studying commerce, hotel and restaurant, natural science, and technology.

The team found that students on more technically oriented courses tended to have more sophisticated passwords, as one might expect, but few students used the same password for their Facebook and email accounts, which is a promising development compared with earlier surveys that showed many students use the same password on all systems. Previous surveys showed 75% of users duplicated passwords whereas the Swedish results suggest this is now about 40%. For staff at the Institute, duplication was 17%. “The order of magnitudes of all figures may suggest that many users do not prioritise their personal security on Facebook, and that more awareness would be needed to improve this situation,” the team says.

“Our results indicate that bad password strategies may be ‘taught away’, or that there would be a point in having good password strategies and online safety taught in primary or secondary school to increase security awareness,” the team concludes.

“On user perception of safety in online social networks” in Int. J. Communication Networks and Distributed Systems, 2013, 11, 77-91

Teenage password security is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot http://sciencespot.co.uk/teenage-password-security.html

Call for papers: "Advances in Soft Computing Techniques for Image Processing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics.

Computational techniques have found significant use in practical applications, especially in image processing. Most of the computing techniques are advantageous but significant drawbacks exist in these approaches. Some computational techniques possess high accuracy but are computationally inefficient. On the other hand, several techniques are computationally efficient but lack accuracy. These drawbacks prevent the application of such computational techniques for real-time analysis.

 

This special issue will focus on overcoming the drawbacks of these computational approaches. This issue will also place emphasis on hybrid techniques which can achieve high accuracy with quick convergence. This issue will additionally concentrate on the application of such proposed techniques for real-time applications. Thus, the issue will serve as a forum for presenting solutions to existing computational problems.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Artificial neural networks
• Fuzzy logic
• Evolutionary computation
• Rough sets
• Grid computing
• Cryptography
• Statistical approaches
• Probabilistic methodologies
• Neuro fuzzy techniques
• Hybrid methodologies
• Information mining
• Mathematical modelling
• Computational complexity analysis
• Automation
• Imaging applications
• Any other topic related to advanced computing

Important Dates

Full paper submission: 30 July, 2013

Notification to authors: 30 August, 2013

Final version submission: 25 September, 2013

Call for papers: "Advances in Intelligent Informatics for Virtual and Rapid Prototyping in the Integrated Life Cycle Environment for Efficient Product Development"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics.

Informatics is the scientific study of information, its practice and the engineering of its related systems. Informatics is concerned with the structures, algorithms, behaviours and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information.

 

Engineering is concerned with developing products/structures/systems that improve the safety, comfort and security of natural lives; satisfy their emotional, physical and sociological needs; and/or allow efficient utilisation of resources. An engineering system that delivers the right information to the right person/organisation/unit in the right place and time and in the right way is essential to designing and developing new products.

 

Virtual modelling allows a product to be conceived in its almost complete complexity. It allows the incorporation of technical design parameters and emotional and perceptive needs into the product development process. Virtual modelling accelerates the development process and allows virtual and rapid prototypes of products to be conceived and developed within a short amount of time.

 

In engineering practices, the product development process is supported by various CAD/CAM/CAE systems; therefore virtual and rapid prototyping cannot be created or developed in isolation. For actual implementations in engineering practices, a virtual and rapid prototyping process must fit into the integrative environment. Only then can a computer model consisting of complete information be created.

 

The aim of this special issue is to enforce the view that ‘intelligent informatics’ is critical for virtual and rapid prototyping in the integrative environment of CAD/CAM/CAE and PDM systems for efficient product development (PD). We aim to present important approaches and significant results in research, development and industrial application for advances in intelligent informatics for virtual and rapid prototyping in the integrative environment. Furthermore, the issue aims to highlight the applications of “Intelligent Engineering Informatics” to a larger class of problems. Additionally, we also hope that this special issue will broaden the scope of the International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics and widen its horizons in terms of research coverage and audiences.

 

We solicit original manuscripts that highlight recent successes and define major research challenges. We hope that contributions will chronicle the current state of the art, the challenges that lie ahead, and the evolution of future directions.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Advanced intelligent informatics covering computational, biological, cognitive and social aspects, including study of the social impact of information technologies
• Computational foundations of intelligent informatics
• Intelligent information management, storage, retrieval, security, integrity, privacy and trust in collaborative environments for efficient product development
• Soft computing for integrated product development
• High performance computing in virtual prototyping
• Human-computer interaction with virtual reality in engineering product developments
• Intelligent informatics for design and implementation of complex user interfaces
• Efficient definition and assessment of information related to shapes, e.g. visual aesthetics, manufacturing-related or mathematically oriented
• Integrative techniques for seamless information exchange between various tools/systems of engineering design and analysis
• Information analysis for manufacturability, maintainability, serviceability, e.g. rapid generation of a virtual models using the CAD model of product data
• Information error modelling, fault tolerance, and detection, e.g. tolerance of virtual prototyping against physical prototyping
• Informatics applications of virtual and rapid prototyping in design optimisation
• Virtual and rapid prototyping-centered concurrent design environment
• Coding and debugging information storage functions in the virtual world
• Information evaluation algorithms pertaining to product development management
• Inclusive modelling incorporating customer and market parameters
• Information modelling and simulation for product promotion, verification and training using virtual and rapid prototyping

The application area domains may include, but are not restricted to, engineering industries (e.g. automobile, aerospace and shipbuilding), bio-medical industries, consumer product-based industries, etc., with special emphasis on efficient informatics application for product development with shorter lead times. We strongly encourage potential authors to use information models that are used to design real world products. Additionally, authors may provide online links to accompanying supplementary material in support of their presented work.

 

Important Dates

Deadline for submission of full paper: 30 October, 2013

First review decision: 31 January, 2014

Submission of revised paper: 30 April, 2014

Final decision on acceptance: 30 June 2014

Call for papers: "Innovative Applications for the Cloud"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing.

With rapid advances in information technologies, future generation networks will face challenges in providing highly reliable and high-quality performance. Cloud computing has rapidly emerged as an exciting new paradigm shift from existing IT infrastructures to using the services of software applications, computing and storage over wide-area distribution networks.

 

This trend is being empowered by the drastic performance improvements of IT infrastructure components together with key innovations in the way cloud computing infrastructure is built (e.g. grid computing, utility computing, services computing, ubiquitous computing) to provide computing and communication services anytime and anywhere.

 

Recently, cloud computing technology has been widely used for a variety of applications. Innovative applications for the cloud, such as services and smart mobile applications, have become increasingly popular. The great demands of economic globalisation also foster the spreading of applications. In addition, security and privacy have become important issues for applications in the cloud.

 

This special issue aims to foster the dissemination of state-of-the-art research in the area of innovative cloud computing applications. This includes design, architecture and utility, particularly related to the use of cloud computing technologies and the presentation of future trends. We invite the submission of high-quality papers describing future potential or ongoing work.

 

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the Fourth World Congress on Information and Communication Technologies (WICT 2013) and the Eighth International Conference on Next Generation Web Services Practices (NWeSP 2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conferences to submit articles for this call.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Architecture, development, middleware, framework of innovative applications for the cloud
• Cloud-based services for emerging cloud computing
• Innovative cloud applications and experiences
• Monitoring framework for innovative applications for the cloud
• Mobile, peer-to-peer and pervasive services in clouds

Important Dates

Original paper submission: 30 August, 2013

Notification of first revisions/acceptance: 30 October, 2013

Submission of revised versions by authors: 10 November, 2013

Final notification of acceptance/rejection: 30 November, 2013

Int. J. of Adaptive and Innovative Systems to publish expanded papers from CISIS 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 7th International Conference on Complex, Intelligent, and Software Intensive Systems (CISIS 2013) (3-5 July 2013, Taichung, Taiwan) will be published by the International Journal of Adaptive and Innovative Systems.

Call for papers: "Social Media and Mobile Marketing Innovations"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising.

The use of social media as a marketing instrument and the implementation of mobile marketing applications have in recent years attracted a significant amount of interest from academics working in different fields. This interest has led to a number of studies discussing conceptual frameworks, analytical challenges, implementation issues and performance outcomes.

Social media and mobile marketing are generally viewed by scholars as two phenomena of internet marketing and, as a consequence, the two are generally studied separately. In a period of growing importance of the mobile internet, these themes are remarkably relevant, since they may act as catalysts for internet advertising possibilities.

This growth in mobile is being driven by rapidly changing consumer habits, with smart phones as well as tablets gaining widespread adoption. Hence, the analysis of social media marketing and mobile marketing applications has become a central issue for marketers worldwide.

This special issue aims to stimulate the creation of academic papers focused on new developments in social media marketing and mobile marketing applications. Potential contributions may include:

1. Papers investigating the strategies and objectives that underlie projects involving social media marketing or mobile marketing applications.
2. Theoretical and conceptual papers that focus on social media marketing and mobile marketing applications and organisational change and transition processes involved in the implementation of these innovative marketing initiatives.
3. Case studies of both successful and unsuccessful social media marketing strategies or mobile marketing applications.
4. Methodologies for the study of social media marketing and mobile marketing initiatives.
5. Papers investigating the antecedents and consequences of social CRM or customer engagement activities across social media channels.

This issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing (submission deadline: 14 June), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Papers submitted to this special issue will be reviewed after the IC-SIM 2013 conference, rather than on the normal rolling basis.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Advertising in social media
• Blogging
• Customer engagement
• Facebook marketing strategies
• Innovation and new product development in social media channels
• Innovations in online marketing
• Integration of social media and mobile marketing applications
• Marketing analytics for social media
• Mobile advertising
• Mobile marketing applications
• Mobile marketing strategies
• Mobile wallet
• Network analysis
• Service marketing in social media channels
• Social CRM, customer relationship management
• Social media marketing
• Twitter marketing strategies

Important Dates
Deadline for IC-SIM 2013 submission (optional): 14 June, 2013
Submission deadline for expanded conference and non-conference papers for special issue: 1 February, 2014
Notification of acceptance: 1 September, 2014

Int. J. of Internet Marketing and Advertising to publish expanded papers from IC-SIM 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing (13-17 September 2013, Prague, Czech Republic) will be published by the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising.

Special issue: "Systems Thinking in Inter-Organisational Collaboration"

International Journal of Applied Systemic Studies 5(1/2) 2013

• The role of an intermediator organisation in collaboration: how can an intermediator enhance value co-creation?
• Exploring the relationship between governance, tie strength, and NPD performance
• On establishing trustworthy inter-organisational collaboration
• The issue of flexibility in inter-organisational collaboration: an appreciative systems thinking perspective
• Supply chain integration in the IT manufacturing sector: how integration technologies adoption can improve efficiency

Taking the pulse of the crowd

If everyone in the crowd at a sports event or concert or even the players had wireless heart monitors fitted, commentators and those behind the sound desk could get a real measure of the sense of the collective excitement on each side and in the case of sport share the enthusiasm or for a concert adjust the set list to keep up the excitement. The same technology might also perhaps be used to help reduce panic should there be a fire or other scare at such events.

Now, Jari Multisilta University of Helsinki and Arttu Perttula, Pauliina Tuomi, Kristian Kiili, Marko Suominen and Antti Koivisto of Tampere University of Technology, in Pori, Finland, have tested just such a system at an ice hockey match. Writing in the International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, explain how such metrics might be used to enrich the shared experience of the crowd. Their preliminary tests were with under-clothing heart monitor belts that are fitted around the chest, but they point out that inexpensive and simple motion-sensor monitors, perhaps with GPS capability, would make the whole concept a lot more accessible.

The team explains how during the last decade there has been growing interest in the design of information technologies and interfaces that support rich and complex user experiences, including satisfaction, joy, aesthetics, and reflection. Of course, these have been folded into the whole online social media and social networking we know as web 2.0, but high on the agenda is that offline technology might be exploited to intensify the overall user experience away from the computer too.

The team has piloted the use of heart rate monitors hooked up to the mobile phone system to allow collective heart rate to be monitored at an ice hockey match. However, there are numerous other metrics, such as autonomic nervous system activity, galvanic skin response and blood pulse strength that might also be measured and monitored to give a quantitative estimate of excitement and tension in a crowd. Such data could be fed to those running an event or those commentating on it to help them correlate crowd behaviour on each team’s side, such as the intensity of shouting, applause and dancing, for instance, objectively with the collective intensity of the metrics.

Other than hearing the cheers or boos of a crowd, there are only limited means for objectively assessing true engagement and excitement with an event, the team says. Their approach while perhaps seeming cumbersome at first glance could be used to boost audience engagement as well as offering useful data for research into crowd behaviour at sporting and concert events. Similarly, such a system could be added to video gaming systems to extend interactivity as well as providing useful measurements for health and fitness, dancing and related games.

Perttula A., Tuomi P., Kiili K., Suominen M., Koivisto A. & Multisilta J. (2013). Enriching shared experience by collective heart rate, International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, 2 (1/2) 31. DOI: 10.1504/IJSHC.2013.053265

Taking the pulse of the crowd is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot http://sciencespot.co.uk/taking-the-pulse-of-the-crowd.html

Call for papers: "Integrated Approaches Based on Advanced Modelling and Simulation Methodologies for Industry and Manufacturing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Service and Computing Oriented Manufacturing.

The dynamic changing behaviour of industry and manufacturing processes which results from market globalisation requires continuous research and development advances to guarantee higher competitiveness. Modelling and simulation is a growing research field capable of supporting, as powerful decision making tool, industrial evolution.

Authors are invited to submit articles presenting research work, case studies and applications, both theoretical and applied.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 10th International Multidisciplinary Modeling & Simulation Multiconference (I3M 2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited:

• Discrete and combined simulation
• Industrial processes modelling and simulation
• Manufacturing process modelling and simulation
• Production and manufacturing system modelling and simulation
• Application of modelling and simulation in industry and manufacturing
• Simulation optimisation approaches in industry, services and logistics processes
• Advanced simulation for logistics systems
• Agent-directed modelling and applications
• Petri net-based modelling and simulation
• Simulation and artificial intelligence
• Cloud-based simulation and applications

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 20 April, 2014 (extended)

Call for papers: "Enabling Technologies for Cloud and Network Sustainability"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems.

Ever-growing cloud computing is emerging rapidly as an exciting new paradigm for providing ubiquitous services, and plays an increasingly critical role in all aspects of our lives. With dramatically increasing demand on computing and storage systems, IT infrastructures have been scaled tremendously, which results in huge amounts of energy consumption, heat dissemination, greenhouse emissions and even a contribution to climate change.

 

As such, green computing has come into the picture seeking solutions for making computing and IT infrastructures energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

 

Although cloud computing presents exciting enabling opportunities, the benefits will only be reaped if security aspects can be appropriately addressed. As a result, to realise the advantages of ubiquitous services in cloud environments requires the addressing of the security issues of its architectures, services and applications. Therefore, the security of cloud and network computing has become an important challenge for commerce, the public sector, academia and for individuals.

 

This special issue aims to foster the dissemination of high quality research in any new ideas, methods, theories, techniques and applications for enabling sustainable computing for clouds. The objective of this issue is to showcase the most recent developments and research in cloud and network computing fields, as well as to enhance their state-of-the-art.

 

Original and research articles of all types are solicited, including theoretical studies, practical applications, new communication technologies and experimental prototypes. Articles will be peer reviewed and selected on the basis of both their quality and their relevance to the theme of this special issue.

 

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at IEEE CloudCom 2013, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Network architecture, programmability and security
• Data mining, analysis, management, security and privacy
• Architectural scalability, reliability and fault tolerance
• Internet computing, web services
• Commercial or industrial business models, quality of services
• Practice of high performance computing and communications in distributed
• Power-aware algorithms and protocols
• Power-aware software and hardware
• Life-cycle analysis of IT equipment
• Energy harvesting, storage and recycling
• Renewable energy models and prediction

Important Dates

Regular (non-CloudCom) full papers due: 15 September, 2013

Extended versions of CloudCom papers due: 15 January, 2014

Notification of results: 15 March, 2014

Revisions due: 15 April, 2014

Notification of final acceptance: 15 May, 2014

Submission of final revised papers: 15 June, 2014

Call for papers: "Towards Trust Persistent Identifier Infrastructures"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Knowledge and Learning.

In domains such as cultural heritage, e-government, e-health, e-science, multimedia and so on, information reliability is a basic pre-requirement for effective exploitation and reuse. Several initiatives have been undertaken for handling persistent identification of digital objects and people. Examples include DOI, NBN, DATACITE, ISNI, ORCID, ARK, CoolURI and the like.

Some of these can be considered as general purpose persistent identifiers (PI), while others’ standards are tailored for the community of reference and linked to a specific service (e.g. Italian NBN, linked to legal deposits). However it is becoming increasingly clear that PI solutions can be crucial to supporting trust-enabling services such as clustering, resource authority, authenticity and provenance certification, digital rights management, e-identity management, interoperability and so forth.

This special issue aims to investigate the new conceptual approaches, trends and promised services aimed at implementing trustworthiness in PI infrastructure over different domains. This call aims at collecting both theoretical and experimental results in order to gain a wide understanding of the impact of trust persistent identifiers’ infrastructure at technological, social and economical levels in different communities of reference and in the information society in general.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Social media technologies and solutions
• Recommendations and suggestions, collective intelligence
• Collaborative and cooperative systems
• Content production models and tools
• Linked open data, aggregated media
• Indexing and search, filtering, information retrieval, emotion analysis
• Metadata quality, mapping and ingestion models and tools
• Cloud-based solutions
• Business models
• Data and media protection
• Standards, repository certification solutions
• Authenticity and provenance tools
• Reputation tools, resource certification
• PI infrastructure risk assessment
• Resource integrity tools
• Quality assessment frameworks and tools
• Quality certifications
• Metrics, indicators and measurement tools

Important Dates

Submission of full paper: 4 October, 2013
Notification to authors: 30 October, 2013
Submission of final versions: 15 December, 2013

Call for papers: "Computational Intelligence and Information Security"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies.

As the internet continues to develop, its users increase rapidly. The increase of multiple kinds of internet business and media communication causes many problems in both internet management and information safety which traditional methods cannot solve. But intelligence technology is able to handle these problems with the maturation of its theories.

The issue will provide a forum for researchers, industry professionals and academics interested in the latest developments in computational intelligence and information security.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Conference on Consumer Electronics, Communications and Networks (CECNet 2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Artificial intelligence and its applications
• Intelligent data management
• Information retrieval
• Grid computing
• Natural language processing
• Network security
• Cryptology and information security
• Mobile and wireless security
• Information hiding and watermarking

Important Dates
Original paper submission: 30 July, 2013
Notification of first revisions/acceptance: 20 September, 2013
Submission of revised versions by authors: 20 October, 2013
Final notification of acceptance/rejection: 10 November, 2013

Special issue: "Contemporary Social Media Topics in Business and Public Organisations"

International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing 2(1/2) 2013

• The role of social media for media companies
• Enriching shared experience by collective heart rate
• From design participation to civic participation - participatory design of a social media service
• Personal content in online sports communities: motivations to capture and share personal exercise data
• Social stream marketing on Facebook: a case study
• Investigating Facebook's acceptance and satisfaction: a study in the Greek university community
• Understanding the user generated content and interactions on a Facebook brand page

Int. J. of Service and Computing Oriented Manufacturing to publish expanded papers from SDM 2014

Expanded versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing (28-30 April 2014, Cardiff, Wales, UK) will be published by the International Journal of Service and Computing Oriented Manufacturing.

Special issue: "Collaborative Activities Support Techniques: from Business Process Implementation to Dynamic Deployment Management"

International Journal of Collaborative Enterprise 3(2/3) 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 2012 Workshops on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WETICE 2012).

• Implementing managed loosely-coupled distributed business processes: a new approach using DIME networks
• Coordination of distributed collaborative activities for disaster management
• An ontological model for supporting intention-based information sharing on collaborative problem solving
• Towards error-handling-aware choreography to orchestration transformation approach
• AODA: an Autonomic and Ontology-Driven Architecture for service-oriented and event-driven systems
• Web 2.0 services for collaborative spatial decision making
• Towards an approach for managing dynamic deployment in distributed service oriented architectures

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from I3M 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 10th International Multidisciplinary Modeling & Simulation Multiconference (25-27 September 2013, Athens, Greece) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Service and Computing Oriented Manufacturing
• International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling

Special issue: "Social Networking and Web-Based Communities for Education"

International Journal of Web Based Communities 9(2) 2013

• How and why college students use Web 2.0 applications: the role of social media in formal and informal learning
• Students' approach to social network in educational context
• Social networks as spaces for informal teacher professional development: challenges and opportunities
• Professors - the new YouTube stars: education through Web 2.0 and social network
• Social network intervention for the enhancement of students' social presence in relation to satisfaction and perceived learning
• Perceived usefulness of Facebook for teaching and learning: the student teacher's perspective
• The role of social media in self-regulated learning
• A sociologic evaluation: effects of social networking caused e-learning on university students 

Call for papers: "Intelligent Approaches to Complex Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics.

High non-linear interaction between different product and process components involved during delivery and services has led to increased system complexity. For example, product globalisation coupled with shorter lead times, product customisation and safety requirements has created very high non-linear dynamics between the product, process and delivery systems which need to be taken into account by manufacturers or service providers to sustain in the market.

Similarly, in healthcare, domain services are affected by changes in population demography, technological and medical advancements, and other factors which in turn affect the paradigms of health and social care systems worldwide.

This special issue invites quality papers describing original work, case studies or new findings related to solving complex system problems from, but not limited to, the domains of product design, manufacturing, services, healthcare delivery systems, logistics and supply chains using intelligent approaches from OR, data mining, machine learning and simulation domains.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Data mining
• Machine learning
• Virtual metrology
• Soft computing
• Evolutionary algorithms
• Modelling and simulation
• Virtual manufacturing technologies
• Agent-based simulation
• Petri-nets
• Expert systems
• Intelligent design and manufacturing
• Production planning, scheduling and control
• Simulation in logistics and supply chain design
• Knowledge-based simulation
• Industrial case studies

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2013
Notification to authors: 15 February, 2014
Final versions due: 30 March, 2014

Special issue: "Machining of Aerospace Materials"

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials 13(2/3) 2013

• Chip segmentation behaviour and surface topography in high-speed turning of titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) with eco-friendly water vapour
• Optimisation and tool life study in drilling of titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) alloy
• Analysis of coating performances in machining titanium alloys for aerospace applications
• Evaluation of drilling process in Ti6Al4V using 3D FE simulation
• Design optimisation of machining parameters for turning titanium alloys with Taguchi-Grey method
• Influence of minimum quantity lubrication on the high speed turning of aerospace material superalloy Inconel 718
• Development of semi empirical model for predicting material removal rate during orbital electro discharge machining of Inconel 718
• Effects of lubrication modes on part quality during drilling 6061-T6 aluminium alloy
• Temperature measurement during grinding of metal matrix composites
• An experimental analysis of single pass cutting of aluminium 5083 alloy in different corner angles through WEDM
• Usage of PCD tool in drilling of titanium/graphite hybrid composite laminate
• Machinability and surface quality during high speed trimming of multi directional CFRP
• Machining carbon fibre reinforced plastics: lead angle effect
• Effect of edge trimming on failure stress of carbon fibre polymer composites

Special issue: "Dependability and Security in a Nordic Perspective – Part I"

International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems 3(4) 2012

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 4th and 5th Nordic Workshops on Dependability and Security (NODES ‘10 and NODES ‘11).

• Lightweight MAC-spoof detection exploiting received signal power and median filtering
• Structured intuition: a new methodology to analyse authentication protocols
• High-level algorithms and data structures requirements for security-by-contract on Java cards
• Deriving a mode logic using failure modes and effects analysis

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from Int. Conf. on Management Cases

Expanded versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Management Cases 2013 (ICMC 2013) (5-6 December 2013, BIMTECH Campus, Greater Noida (NCR), India) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
• International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management
• International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies
• International Journal of Services Technology and Management
• International Journal of Technology Marketing

Call for papers: "Next-Generation Web Services and Distributed Architectures in the Future Internet"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Web and Grid Services.

Emerging large-scale distributed computing paradigms such as clouds and grids allow their users to locate applications/services and computing and storage resources anywhere in the world, relying on a completely "transparent" transport infrastructure, according to an abstract model that hides the resources' specific physical location by providing declarative interfaces to services known as Web Services, including messaging protocols, standard interfaces, directory services, as well as security layers, for efficient/effective business application integration.

The Internet is often the basis of these paradigms; it has grown very quickly in recent years in its pervasiveness and coverage, empowering a large variety of network-based cooperative systems ranging from ubiquitous and pervasive computing infrastructures and web-based systems to the Internet of Things.

This scenario, despite its great potential impact on the information society, also raises new performance, security, privacy and multi-tenancy support concerns, and poses new research challenges associated with the involved communication and service delivery solutions.

Accordingly, the goal of this special issue is to feature latest advances and directions in this amazing evolution process by exploring the potential of new architectures, protocols, services and applications in the next generation future Internet environment.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA 2013), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Next generation network services, protocol design and evaluation
• Network solutions for fully distributed architectures (clouds, grids)
• Distributed algorithms and systems for grid and cloud environments
• Security and privacy in grid and cloud organisations
• Security and privacy in web services
• Discovery and search in the web of services
• Cloud-based service for future Internet
• Web of things
• Wireless and mobile communications in the internet of things scenario
• Pervasive and ubiquitous services
• Ontologies for interoperability
• Methodology and practice of semantic grid and web
• Web and grid service-based applications
• Semantic middleware improving distributed information access in grid and cloud organisations
• Scalability of identification systems for the future Internet
• Multimedia communication and applications in future Internet
• Overlay and programmable networks and distributed infrastructures
• Content delivery networks
• Agents, mobile agents and knowledge-based technologies in web and grid services
• Architectures for collective knowledge systems

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 July, 2013
Notification to authors: 15 September, 2013
Final versions due: 15 October, 2013

Int. J. of Qualitative Information Systems Research to publish expanded papers from ISPCM 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the IADIS Information Systems Post-implementation and Change Management Conference (ISPCM 2013) (22–24 July 2013, Prague, Czech Republic) will be published by the International Journal of Qualitative Information Systems Research.

Int. J. of Green Economics to publish Green Economics Institute conference

Expanded versions of papers presented at the Balancing the Global Economy! Greening the Global Economy! Healing the Global Economy! Reclaiming the Commons! Conference (17-20 July 2013, Worcester College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) will be published by the International Journal of Green Economics.

Int. J. of Green Economics to publish expanded papers from Greening of Food, Farming and Agriculture Conference

Expanded versions of papers presented at the The Greening of Food, Farming and Agriculture Conference
(1 May 2013, Trinity College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) will be published by the International Journal of Green Economics.

Special issue: "Project Cost and Contract Management"

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management 5(1/2) 2013

Expanded versions of papers from the joint 7th International Cost Engineering Council World Congress and 14th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress.

• Critical success factors, opportunities and threats of the cost management profession: the case of Australasian quantity surveying firms
• Five maturity pillars of a quantity surveying company
• Factors that influence cost overruns in South African public sector mega-projects
• Construction cost performance of structural frames in Australia
• The evaluation of a web-based decision support system for healthcare project appraisal
• Life cycle cost analysis on educational facilities in Japan
• Modelling housing affordability measurement through the incorporation of life cycle costs
• Problems, preferences and processes related to dispute resolution in construction in South Africa
• Identification of key features that affect the efficient operation of statutory adjudication in the construction industry

Additional Paper

• Knowledge sharing in construction partnering projects - redundancy, boundary objects and brokers

Special issue: "Cloud Computing and Service-Oriented Architecture"

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology 5(2) 2013

• TBFR: a threshold-based file replication approach for increased file availability and its formal verification
• Stochastic MIMO channel modelling using FMLP-based inference engine
• Configurable performance analysis and evaluation framework for cloud systems
• Cloudpress 2.0: a new-age news retrieval system on the cloud
• Secure cloud storage service and limited proxy re-encryption for enforcing access control in public cloud
• A study on software reliability prediction models using soft computing techniques
• Performance analysis of replication mechanism using mobile agent in computational grid using WADE

Special issue: "The 3rd International Workshop on Nanotechnology and Applications (IWNA 2011)"

International Journal of Nanotechnology 10(3/4) 2013

Expanded versions of papers from the 3rd International Workshop on Nanotechnology and Applications (IWNA 2011).

• Detection of the pesticide by functionalised quantum dots as fluorescence-based biosensor
• Impact parameters investigation of DNA immobilisation process on DNA sensor response
• Electrochemical synthesis of polypyrrole for biosensor application
• Glucose biosensor based on platinum nanowires: a clinical study
• Detection of biomarker p53 mutated gene by a silicon nanowire nanosensor
• Study on synthesis and photocatalytic activity of novel visible light sensitive photocatalyst Ag3PO4
• Superparamagnetic behaviour and deviation from Bloch T3/2 law of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 nanoparticles
• Converse magnetoelectric effect in PZT/NiFe/CoFe nanocomposites
• Photocatalytic decomposition of benzene by UV illumination with the presence of nano-TiO2
• Solvothermal synthesis and microstructure of TiO2 nanowires on transparent conducting oxide substrate
• Large-scale growth of single-crystalline TiO2 nanowires and their visible-light photocatalytic activity
• Study on photocatalytic activity of TiO2 and non-metal doped TiO2 in Rhodamine B degradation under visible light irradiation
• Growth of (002)-oriented ZnO thin films on largely lattice-mismatched substrates using atomic layer deposition
• Preparation and characterisation of silver doped ZnO nanostructures
• Cu2Te solar cells fabricated by printing
• Effect of Na and Ti-doping on photovoltaic properties of CuInS2 solar cells
• Effect of temperature in electrochemical texturising of multi-crystalline silicon in KOH solution
• Characteristics of colloidal copper particles prepared by using polyvinyl pyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol in chemical reduction method
• Investigation of pure green-colour emission from inorganic-organic hybrid LEDs based on colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots
• A study on physico-chemical properties and activity of Co-based catalysts supported on SBA-15 in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis
• Preparation, characterisation and catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles supported on Co3O4
• Effect of AgNO3 concentration on structure of aligned silicon nanowire arrays fabricated via silver-assisted chemical etching
• Study on preparation, morphology, and some properties of EVA/silica nanocomposites
• Ferroelectric-based nanocomposites: fabrication and characteristic properties

Int. J. of Emergency Management to publish expanded papers from Int. Workshop on Robotics for Risky Environment

Expanded versions of papers presented at the Seventh International Workshop on Robotics for Risky Environment - Extreme Robotics (7th IARP RISE-ER' 2013) (1-3 October 2013, Saint-Petersburg, Russia) will be published by the International Journal of Emergency Management.

We now have over 2000 likes on Facebook. Sincere thanks for following and engaging with us!

Inderscience's Facebook page has now passed a landmark of 2000 followers.  We're sincerely grateful to all of those who have 'liked' our page, and look forward to continuing to engage with you through it.

Special issue: "Techniques and Applications for Merging Mobile and Cloud Services"

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems 10(3) 2013

• Towards pervasive mashups in embedded devices: comparing procedural and declarative approach
• System-level fault diagnosis in fixed topology mobile ad hoc networks
• An energy aware enhanced AODV routing protocol in MANET
• Discrete-time modelling for performance analysis and optimisation of uplink traffic in IEEE 802.16 networks
• Cryptography with fast point multiplication by using ASCII codes and its implementation
• On performance of multi hop CDMA wireless sensor networks with correlated interferers 
• Traffic-aware and low-overhead routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

Inderscience is media partner for the Global Liner Shipping Americas Conference

Inderscience is a media partner for the Global Liner Shipping Americas Conference (22-23 May 2013, Panama City, Panama).

The journal involved is the International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics.

Call for papers: "Engine Combustion Optimisation and Control"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Powertrains.

Engine combustion optimisation and control plays an important role in vehicle fuel economy and emissions. Substantial progress has been made in understanding the combustion process, combustion modelling for real-time simulations and model-based combustion control and optimisation.

 

However, as new engine sensing and actuating systems become available, engine combustion optimisation becomes a multi-degree of freedoms control problem, which requires the application of advanced control schemes such as model-based control, adaptive control, model-reference control, etc.

 

The primary objective of this special issue is therefore to compile state of the art research and development efforts in engine combustion modelling and hardware-in-the-loop simulation, combustion optimisation and mode transition, combustion optimisation, closed loop combustion control and so on.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Engine combustion optimisation
• Closed loop and model-based combustion control
• Combustion mode transition
• Engine combustion modelling for model-based control
• Hardware-in-the-loop simulations
• Advanced combustion control techniques

Important Dates

Manuscript submission deadline: 31 August, 2013

Review reports and decisions: 15 November, 2013

Submission of revised manuscripts: 15 December, 2013

Completion of final reviews: 31 January, 2014

Final manuscript submission: 28 February, 2014

Special issue: "Innovative Approaches on Global Issues in Marketing and Finance"

Global Business and Economics Review 15(2/3) 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 4th Annual EuroMed Conference 2011.

• The influence of demographic variables on relationship banking: an international study
• Customer e-loyalty to internet banking: an empirical analysis
• Trade credits: the case of small-medium sized enterprises
• Public-private partnerships in welfare system
• Institutional environment features and Swiss foreign direct investment
• To hedge or not to hedge during the financial crisis: a case study
• Analysing the relationship between intellectual capital and performance in local governments
• The globalisation of business activity: structures, processes and prospects for the demise of postmodernism
• The exploration activity's added value into the innovation process
• How to enhance value? A comparative approach between marketing and finance
• Monitoring and protecting company and brand reputation on social networks: when sites are not enough
• Does freedom lead to happiness? Economic growth and quality of life

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from Int. Conference on Advanced Mechatronic Systems

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 2013 International Conference on Advanced Mechatronic Systems (25-27 September 2013, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems
• International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

Special issue: "Challenges in Aviation Management and Regulation"

International Journal of Aviation Management 2(1/2) 2013

Expanded versions of papers presented at the 2011 Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) Conference.

• Measuring success: the search for assessment criteria in determining the impact of deregulation in regional aviation
• Domestic airline networks and passenger demand in Thailand after deregulation
• An investigation of airline service quality and passenger satisfaction - the case of China Eastern Airlines in Wuhan region
• Determining factors in airport baggage claim level of service
• Emissions of greenhouse gases: Brazilian air transportation sector
• Identification of key aircraft and operational parameters affecting airport charges

Call for papers: "Advances in Data Mining and Its Applications"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Information and Communication Technology.

Although data mining is a relatively new term, the technology is not. Data mining is primarily used today by companies with powerful computers to sift through volumes of supermarket scanner data and analyse market research reports.

 

It allows these companies – retail, financial, communication and marketing organisations – a strong consumer focus, and enables them to determine impacts on sales, customer satisfaction and corporate profits. Power, disk storage and statistical software are dramatically increasing the accuracy of analysis while driving down cost.

 

This special issue aims to provide an in-depth presentation of relevant recent advances in methodologies, algorithms theories and applications related to data mining.

 

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Text analytics
• Fraud detection
• Data visualisation
• Predictive modelling
• Data optimisation
• Classes
• Technological infrastructure
• Clusters
• Associations
• Sequential patterns
• Artificial neural networks
• Genetic algorithms
• Decision trees
• Nearest neighbour method
• Rule induction
• Data visualisation
• Storing and managing data
• Presenting data
• Application software for analysing data

Important Dates

Submission deadline: 30 October, 2013

Acceptance/rejection notification: 30 November, 2013

Final paper due: 20 December, 2013

Special issue: "The Resource-Based View (RBV) as Applied in International Marketing"

International Journal of Trade and Global Markets 6(2) 2013

• Export venture flexibility: its antecedents and effects on performance
• Importer commitment drivers and their impact on performance: a resource-based perspective
• A resource-based approach to the study of export marketing from Australia
• The effect of marketing capability, financing resource and spatial configuration on market-focused flexibility
• The influence of key capabilities on brand portfolio-based competitive advantage
• Strategically planned entrepreneurial expansion into emerging markets: a resource-based view of Argentina

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from the Int. Conf. of The Global Academy of Business & Economic Research

Expanded versions of papers presented at the The Tenth International Conference of The Global Academy of Business & Economic Research (16-17 October 2013, New York, USA) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Accounting and Finance
• International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance
• International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets
• International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence
• International Journal of Business Performance Management
• International Journal of Financial Services Management
• International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management
• International Journal of Management and Decision Making

Special issue: "Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Manufacturing Systems"

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering 14(1) 2013

• Comparison of failure mode and effects analysis by using AHP vs. REMBRANDT system
• Material selection using hybrid MCDM approach for automobile bumper
• Evaluation of manufacturing systems based on environmental aspects using a multi-criteria decision model
• Evaluation of alternative industrial robots using AHP and ELECTRE: a comparative study
• Multi-criteria inventory classification through integration of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and artificial neural network
• Mathematical modelling for process design of walking worker assembly line in productivity and ergonomics perspectives

Call for papers: "Emergent Integrative Research Strategies within Tourism Studies"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Tourism Anthropology.

The complex effects of tourism and touristic travel often require integrative, comprehensive methods to answer research questions that seek to more fully understand the tourist phenomenon. The dynamic nature of tourism systems, the surprising ways tourism unfolds over time and the discontinuities and instabilities located in tourism development strategies have encouraged social scientists to increasingly explore interdisciplinary research and mixed methods approaches. However, the integration of different methodological systems and engagement across disciplinary boundaries may introduce complications within data collection, analysis, or translation of findings.

This special issue invites submissions that focus on emergent integrative research strategies within tourism studies that seek to overcome such challenges. The issue encourages an engagement with manuscripts that explore increasing the methodological and analytical understandings between disciplines, as well as the interdisciplinary methodological sophistication of tourism studies.

Given the interest in integrated methods — which seek to increase dialogue across the social sciences — this issue seeks submissions from disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, human geography, economics, public health and tourism studies, as well as those engaged within collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Empirical and conceptual papers situated within discussions of integrated/mixed methods are welcome.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Theorising tourism research strategies
• Analytical modelling of tourism impacts
• Case studies grounded in collaborative, interdisciplinary research
• Case studies incorporating integrated methods, such as combining ethnographic, demographic and sociolinguistic methods
• Innovative methodologies created for or adapted to tourism research
• Social impact analysis and assessment tools
• Methods in applied tourism studies
• Research attending to the question of scale and scalar politics
• Challenges of and solutions to translating ethnographic findings for policy consideration

Important Dates

Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 1 February 2014
Notification of acceptance/rejection to authors: 1 May 2014
Submission of revised manuscript: 1 August 2014
Final acceptance of manuscript: 1 October 2014