Special issue published: "Vehicle Ride Comfort and Performance"

International Journal of Vehicle Performance 1(3/4) 2014

• Effective seat-to-head transmissibility under combined-axis vibration and multiple postures
• Parameters affecting wedge disc brake performance
• A three-dimensional model of an articulated frame-steer vehicle for coupled ride and handling dynamic analyses
• Optimum design of a rack-and-pinion steering linkage matching a rectilinear suspension system
• Synthesis of a rectilinear independent rear suspension and experiment research

Additional paper

• Emissions and performance of blended fuels using experimental study

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics are now available here for free:

• A survey on knowledge-based systems for ship design and ship operation
• A multi-agent approach for scheduling jobs and maintenance operations in the flowshop sequencing problem
• Mobility models and traffic pattern generation-based optimisation of reactive protocols
• Improving spectral efficiency in cooperative cellular networks via convex optimisation
• Modelling and predicting surface finish in turning using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Multinational Corporation Strategy

Transforming a domestic firm into a multinational corporation (MNC) innately entails the liabilities of foreignness as firms do not exactly know the actualities of foreign business environments. International business scholars have long been raising the question of why MNCs invest across borders and how they maximise earnings in unfamiliar markets. In the ongoing search for solutions, scholars realise in particular that they need to grapple with appropriate MNC strategies. The International Journal of Multinational Corporation Strategy provides a forum for in-depth exploration of this research area.

Call for papers: "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Networks as Drivers of Global Competitiveness"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Business and Globalisation.

Entrepreneurship and innovation are key factors that trigger global economic development (e.g. Dana, 2001; Dana, Etemad and Wright, 2008; Porter and Stern, 2001; Wong and Autio, 2005; Nordqvist and Melin, 2010). This is due to their ability to play an important stakeholder role in facilitating networks and contributing to overall economic growth rates (Kim et al., 2012).

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports that there are a number of advantages associated with entrepreneurship and innovation including the creation of new companies from investment in local economies, creating new jobs, increasing competitiveness and developing the instruments needed for the establishment and continuation of innovative companies. This means that entrepreneurship spurs economic growth and employment by supporting a competitive and globalised market infrastructure (Amorós and Bosma 2014; Etemad, Wright and Dana, 2001; Wright and Dana, 2003).

Part of this support in entrepreneurial ecosystems comes from the relationship between network business activities and productivity, which is driven by the competitive aggressiveness orientation of firms in local, regional and international economies (Dana, Korot and Tovstiga, 2005; Ratten, 2014). This means that having an entrepreneurial and innovative capacity is important in encouraging individual-, firm- and government-led cooperation and networking in order to help guide and explain regional competitiveness (Ferreira and Fernandes, 2013).

Some regional networks have increasingly had to deal with global competition posed by other industry clusters (Semlinger, 2008). In addition, the behaviour and performance of firms depends on endogenous factors and also on their relational networks in the local and international marketplace (Lundberg and Andresen, 2011). Therefore, it is important to analyse the potential of businesses from a human and social capital perspective by understanding how their resources are affected by sales, production and efficiency goals (Dana, Korot and Tovstiga, 2003; Turok 2004).

Sometimes this can be best understood by examining the networks and knowledge relationships that exist in a region as a way to evaluate their competitiveness and comparative global standard (Lawton Smith and Bagchi-Sen, 2010). This includes taking into account regional stakeholders such as academia, industry and government, which together determine the importance of cooperative networks in facilitating regional competitiveness (Farinha et al., 2014).

The aim of this special issue is to focus on how networks and knowledge can help firms increase their global competitiveness by fostering innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour.

References:

Amorós J.E., Bosma N. (2014) Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2013 Global Report. 1-104.

Dana, L-P. (2001) 'Introduction: Networks, internationalization and policy', Small Business Economics, 16: 57-62.

Dana, L-P., Korot, L. and Tovstiga, G. (2003) 'Toward a transnational techno-culture: An empirical investigation of knowledge management', p 183-205, In Etemad, H. and Wright, R. Eds, Globalisation and Entrepreneurship: Policy and Strategy Perspectives, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, United Kingdom.

Dana, L-P., Korot, L. and Tovstiga, G. (2005) 'A cross national comparison of knowledge management practices', International Journal of Manpower, 26(1): 10-22.

Dana. L-P., Etemad, H. and Wright, R.W. (2008) 'Toward a paradigm of symbiotic entrepreneurship', International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 5(2): 109-126.

Etemad, H., Wright, R. and Dana, L-P. (2001) 'Symbiotic international business networks: Collaboration between small and large firms', Thunderbird International Business Review, 43(4): 481-499.

Kim, Y., Kim, W., Yang, T. (2012) The effect of the triple helix system and habitat on regional entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence from the U.S. Res Policy 41:154-166. doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2011.08.003.

Lawton-Smith, H., Bagchi-Sen, S, (2010) Triple helix and regional development: a perspective from Oxfordshire in the UK. Technol Anal Strateg Manag 22:805-818. doi: 10.1080/09537325.2010.511143.

Farinha, L., Ferreira, J., Gouveia, J. (2014). Networks of Innovation and Competitiveness: a Triple Helix Case Study. Journal of the Knowledge Economy. DOI 10.1007/s13132-014-0218-3. (Onlinefirst). http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13132-014-0218-3.

Fernandes, C., Ferreira, J. (2013) Knowledge Spillovers: Cooperation between Universities and KIBS, R&D in Management, 43(5): 461-472. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12023.

Lundberg, H,, Andresen, E. (2012) Cooperation among companies, universities and local government in a Swedish context. Ind Mark Manag 41:429-437. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2011.06.017.

Nordqvist, M., Melin, L. (2010) Entrepreneurial families and family firms. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development,22:211-239. doi: 10.1080/08985621003726119.

Porter M., Stern S. (2001) MIT Sloan Management Review; Summer 2001; 42, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 28-36.

Ratten, V. (2014) "Encouraging collaborative entrepreneurship in developing countries: the current challenges and a research agenda", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 6 Iss: 3: 298-308 Semlinger, K. (2008) Cooperation and competition in network governance: regional networks in a globalised economy. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 20:547-560. doi: 10.1080/08985620802462157.

Turok I (2004) Cities, Regions and Competitiveness. Regional Studies 38:1069-1083. doi: 10.1080/0034340042000292647.

Wong, P.K., Ho, Y.P., Autio, E. (2005) Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM data. Small Business Economics 24:335-350. doi: 10.1007/s11187-005-2000-1 Wright, R.W. and Dana, L.P. (2003) 'Changing paradigms of international entrepreneurship strategy', Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 1: 135-152.

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

• Entrepreneurial character of organisational knowledge practices
• Entrepreneurial firms in geographic regions around the world
• Collective sharing of knowledge and decision making to help global competitiveness
• Cultural beliefs, values and behaviours of entrepreneurial global firms
• Cooperation and competition of firms and symbiotic relationships
• Coopetition amongst firms fostering global competitiveness
• Regional and sectoral innovation systems
• Measurement of innovation management performance
• Regional networking in triple helix spaces
• Collaboration and knowledge transfer between university-industry
• Global competitiveness

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 30 October, 2015

Free Editor's Picks articles newly available from European Journal of International Management

The following sample articles from the European Journal of International Management are now available here for free:

• Intercultural competencies as antecedents of responsible global leadership
• Global health and the business of illness
• Challenges in international survey research: a review with illustrations and suggested solutions for best practice
• Business and management in Russia: a review of the post-Soviet literature and future research directions
• Case selection biases in management research: the implications for international business studies
• A new Zeitgeist for international business activity and scholarship
• Cultural values in organisations: insights for Europe
• Culture: organisations, personalities and nations. Gerhard Fink interviews Geert Hofstede

New Editor for the International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies

Prof. Jin Chen from Tsinghua University in China has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies.

Call for papers: "Entrepreneurship in the Balkans"

For a special issue of the World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.

The Balkans cover a large area of Europe, heterogeneous in historical experience, policy and demographics; it is rich in opportunities for entrepreneurship but far from homogeneous. The aim of this special issue is to explore entrepreneurship from the perspective of Balkan countries, building on pioneer works including those of Ateljevic, et al. (2009); Dana (1994; 2010); Ramadani and Schneider (2013); and Ramadani, et al. (2014).

The Balkans have not been a focal point of interest in current literature on entrepreneurship and small business and this issue aims to overcome this deficit in our knowledge. It will be welcomed by regional and international researchers who are interested in knowing more about entrepreneurship in the Balkan countries.

Both micro and macro level studies are invited. Also, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are welcome. We also encourage writers to come forward with emerging and groundbreaking topics to diversify and widen research from the perspective of the Balkans.

References:

Ateljevic, J., et al. (2009), "The New Elites and Organised Crime in the Western Balkans: Obstacles to Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, RENT XXIII Conference: Entrepreneurial Growth of the Firm; 19-20 November, Budapest, Hungary.

Dana, L-P. (1994), "The Impact of Culture on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Change in the Balkans: The Yugopluralist Model," Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Change 3 (2), pp. 177-190.

Dana, L-P. (1996), "Albania in the Twilight Zone: The Perseritje Model and its Impact on Small Business," Journal of Small Business Management, 34 (1), January, pp. 64-70.

Dana, L-P. (1998), "Waiting for Direction in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)," Journal of Small Business Management 36 (2), April, pp. 62-67.

Dana, L-P. (1999a), "Preserving Culture Through Small Business: Government Support for Artisans and Craftsmen in Greece," Journal of Small Business Management 37 (1), pp. 90-92.

Dana, L-P. (1999b), "The Social Cost of Tourism: A Case Study of Ios," Cornell Quarterly 40 (4), August, pp. 60-63.

Dana, L-P., et al., eds. (2008), Handbook of Research on European Business and Entrepreneurship: Towards a Theory of Internationalization, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Dana, L-P. (2010), When Economies Change Hands: A Survey of Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Markets of Europe from the Balkans to the Baltic States, New York & Oxford: Routledge.

Dana, L-P., and Ramadani, V. (2015), Family Business in Transition Economies: Management, Succession and Internationalization, Heidelberg: Springer.

Ramadani, V., et al. (2013), "Women Entrepreneurs in the Republic of Macedonia: Waiting for Directions," International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 19 (1), pp. 95-121.

Ramadani, V., et al. (2014), "Ethnic Entrepreneurship in Macedonia: The Case of Albanian Entrepreneurs," International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 23 (3), pp. 313-335.

Ramadani, V., and Schneider, C.R (2013), Entrepreneurship in the Balkans, Heidelberg: Springer.

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

• Artisans and craftsmen in the Balkans; see Dana (1999a)
• Crime in the Balkans; see Ateljevic, et al. (2009)
• Culture in the Balkans; see Dana (1994; 1999a)
• Economic development in the Balkans; see Ateljevic, et al. (2009)
• Education in the Balkans; see Dana (2010)
• Ethnic minority entrepreneurship; see Ramadani et al. (2014)
• Family business in the Balkans; see Dana and Ramadani (2015)
• Financing in the Balkans; see Ramadani, et al. (2014)
• Gender issues in the Balkans; see Ramadani et al. (2013)
• Government policy in the Balkans; see Dana (1999a)
• Growth in the Balkans; see Dana (2010)
• Internationalisation; see Dana et al. (2008); Dana and Ramadani(2015)
• Islam in the Balkans; see Dana (1996) and Ramadani, et al. (2014)
• Obstacles to entrepreneurship; see Ateljevic, et al. (2009)
• Pluralism; see Dana (2010)
• Privatisation; see Dana (2010)
• Social impact of entrepreneurship; see Dana (1999b)
• Tourism; see Dana (1999b)
• Other issues; see Dana (1998); Ramadani and Schneider (2013)

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 December, 2015

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Globalisation and Small Business

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business are now available here for free:

• Opportunities for craft consumption: analysis of the quality perceived by consumers 
• Corporate governance mechanisms and disclosure in medium-sized listed firms: substitutes or complements? 
• Market entry strategies into the BRIC countries - a comparison of Danish family and non-family businesses 
• Social impacts of rural women's small businesses in Iran

Special issue published: "Big Data, Semantics and The Cloud"

International Journal of Big Data Intelligence 2(2) 2015

• Heterogeneity-aware scheduler for stream processing frameworks
• Robust fingerprinting codes for database using non-adaptive group testing
• A semantic cloud infrastructure for data-intensive medical research
• Why rank-level fusion? And what is the impact of image quality?
• Malicious traffic analysis on mobile devices: a hardware solution
• A platform for big data analytics on distributed scale-out storage system

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining are now available here for free:

• The devaluation of property due to the perception of health risk in polluted industrial cities
• Analysing full text content by means of a flexible co-citation analysis inspired text mining method - exploring 15 years of JASSS articles
• Similarity search in streaming time series with the support of Skyline index
• DynLW: balancing and scalability for heavy dynamic stream-DB workloads
• A fuzzy approach to discriminant analysis based on polynomial regression models

GM crops to fight spina bifida

Genetically modified crops are usually designed to have herbicide tolerance and insect resistance, but there are other applications of such engineered plants, such as the incorporation of genes for specific nutrients. Research published in the International Journal of Biotechnology suggests that the bio-fortification of rice with a gene to produce more folate (the ion of folic acid, also known as vitamin B9) could significantly reduce the risk of birth defects, such as spina bifida and other neural tube defect conditions, caused by deficiency of this nutrient.

The first commercially available GM crop was the FLAVR SAVR tomato in 1994 but by 2012 some 170 million hectares of GM crops were being grown worldwide in 28 countries by 17 million farmers. There are various crop plants being developed that are enriched in iron and zinc, vitamin A and other nutrients. Two well-known GM rice crops that were designed to improve nutrition levels in the food are in development. The first, so-called Golden rice, is an entirely safe, pro-vitamin A enriched rice and will be introduced soon with the potential to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children who might otherwise die of malnutrition. By contrast, folate biofortified rice (FBR) is still at the laboratory phase of development, although proof-of-concept has been well established.

Hans De Steur and colleagues at Ghent University, Belgium and Liaoning Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China, suggest that in regions of high folate-deficiency risk, such as Balrampur (India) and Shanxi (China) there are many years lost of healthy life because of a lack of this vitamin. About 50% to 70% and up to 85% of all neural tube defects arise because of maternal folate deficiency.

The standard metric used in research, as described by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the DALY Disability-Adjusted Life Year. This equates to the sum of Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality and the Years Lost due to Disability (YLD) for people living with a given health condition and so combines morbidity and mortality. The team’s work shows that folate biofortification could help avoid 29 to 111 DALYs each year in Balrampur per 1000 births and between 47 and 104 DALYs in Shanxi. In absolute figures, China and India have 16000 and 18000 NTDs births per annum, and account for about 12% of the global estimated number of NTDs, i.e., nearly 300 000 NTDs per year.


De Steur, H., Dora, M.K., Blancquaert, D., Liqun, G., Lambert, W., Van Der Straeten, D. and Gellynck, X. (2014) ‘Evaluating GM biofortified rice in areas with a high prevalence of folate deficiency’, Int. J. Biotechnology, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp.257–279.

GM crops to fight spina bifida is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot
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First issue: International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics (free sample issue available)

The International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics establishes an international state-of-the-art knowledge platform bringing together agricultural management functions and informatics modules to establish effective communication channels. These channels are important for sustainable and effective decision making in agriculture, food and the environment which in turn contribute to productivity, competitiveness and sustainable development. IJSAMI highlights new strategies, tools, techniques and technologies essential for developing sustainable agricultural management and information and communications technologies.

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

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Learning and Change

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Learning and Change are now available here for free:

• Examining the predictive power of autonomy and self-evaluation on high school students' language achievement
• A knowledge management model for firms in the financial services industry
• Styling and design in multi-segmented market strategies: the case of the Italian knitwear sector
• Meeting the Shanghai cooperation organisation's (SCO) challenges: what role can technology play?
• Designing for multiple stakeholder interests within the humanitarian market: the case of off-grid energy devices
• How is corporate social responsibility addressed by biotech firms? A case study analysis
• Design management, learning and innovation: results from a Portuguese online questionnaire

Special issue published: "Risk Culture and Crisis Communication"

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 18(2) 2015

• Risk culture and crisis communication
• In search of an Italian risk culture: prevalent approaches towards disasters among experts, survivors and people at risk of natural and industrial hazards
• Advances in risk and crisis communication
• Dealing collectively with critical incident stress reactions in high risk work environments: a case study on a European air navigation services provider

Additional papers

• Risk management practices - empirical evidence from Indian corporates
• Another case of 'same bed, different dreams'? Assessing divergence and multidimensionality in energy evaluations and implications for interdisciplinary research and energy management

Special issue published: "New Business Paradigms in a Time of Constant Turbulence"

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business 7(1) 2015

• The optimal selection of internal communication tools during change in organisations
• Employee and corporate branding: antecedents of change management
• Competitive advantage in knowledge-based firms of emerging economies: evidence from Mexico
• Social enterprise manager's career path preferences
• Supporting changes in the Slovenian wood sector by introducing timber logistics centres
• Zealous leadership paradigms

First issue: International Journal of Data Science (free sample issue available)

With the Age of Big Data upon us, we risk drowning in a flood of digital data. Big data spans five dimensions (volume, variety, velocity, volatility and veracity), generally steered towards one critical destination - value. Big data has now become a critical part of the business world and daily life. Containing big information and big knowledge, big data does indeed have big value. The International Journal of Data Science confronts the challenges of extracting a fountain of knowledge from "mountains" of big data.

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

Special issue published: "Technology-Based Formative Assessment" (includes free Open Access article)

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 6(4) 2014

• LMS assessment: using IRT analysis to detect defective multiple-choice test items
• Ontology-based support for peer assessment in inquiry-based learning
• Peer assessment of language learning resources in virtual learning environments with e-rubrics
• The impact on learning outcomes in mathematics of mobile-enhanced, combined formative and summative assessment [Open Access]
• Supporting formative assessment in content and language integrated learning: the MWS-Web platform

Call for papers: "Data Science for Big Data"

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

In recent years, due to the dramatic spread and progress of sensor networks, cloud computing and social services, varied and enormous quantities of data are being produced and accumulated on networks. Using big data, which is an aggregate of this varied and large quantity of data, and making innovative services and business models has gained a lot of interest from researchers and practitioners around the world. This big data involves numerous technological problems that should be resolved urgently.

 

Data science is a generic name for the theory of methods and technology for extracting useful knowledge from data, and is an interdisciplinary research field covering numerous fields such as statistics, computer science and machine learning. This study is considered to be an important key in unlocking value from big data. Applications of data science cover a wide range of fields from business and medicine through to agriculture and government, where real world practitioners have great expectations.

 

This special issue will focus on the methods, technologies and theories, as well as their applications, relating to data science that uses the value from big data. The issue aims to investigate how various approaches to data science obtain value from big data and whether new services can be developed. We expect submitted papers to stimulate new models, approaches and examples of applications, etc. in data science using big data.

 

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

• Techniques
• Cloud/grid computing
• High-performance computing
• Machine learning
• Text and semi-structured data mining
• Knowledge representation
• Statistics and probability
• Service ontologies and modelling
• Applications
• Engineering
• Management
• Marketing
• Operations processes
• Accounting and finance
• Medicine and nursing care
• Public administration

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 14 September, 2015

Notification to authors: 16 November, 2015

Final versions due: 18 January, 2016

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Economics and Accounting

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Economics and Accounting are now available here for free:

• Financial accounting reform: the need for a 'back to basics' approach for profit measurement and wealth measurement
• The unique financial management of healthcare organisations
• Auditor independence: a review of literature
• Political connections: evidence from listed companies in Portugal

Why be creative on social media?

There are five motivators for creating novel content online, whether blog posts, shared news stories, images, photos, songs, videos or any of the other digital artifacts users of social media and social networking sites share endlessly. Research just published in the International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising suggests that these five factors are: entertainment, self-expression, social-belonging, communication, and social-cognition.

Media and journalism experts Chang-Dae Ham of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Joonghwa Lee of the Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA, and advertising and public relations expert Hyung-Seok Lee of Hanyang University in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, have used the theory of uses and gratifications together with the theory of reasoned action to help them understand why members of the public, everyday consumers, create social media content and how motivational beliefs and subjective norms influence attitudes towards such creativity.

Social media and networks are defined as the collection of interactive technologies, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and many more or less familiar outlets, that allow internet users, both at the desktop or on mobile devices, to create, share and communicate content with other people, whether friends, family, work colleagues, acquaintances or members of the wider social networks as a whole. This concept arose from what is often referred to as the second generation of websites, the web 2.0, where interactivity, rather than passive viewing and reading, are critical to the success of the sites. Millions, if not billions, of people now express themselves through their creative output on social media with wildly varying degrees of success and “reach”.

Live internet statistics reveal that the number of internet users continues to rise, it is currently estimated at well over 3 billion, almost half the global population; with almost half of those being active members of Facebook. Those users are sending tens of billions of emails each day, viewing or working on more than a billion websites, doing billions of online searches, writing hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of blog posts each day, sending hundreds of millions of tweets, creating and viewing millions of YouTube and Vine video clips, Instagram photos and Tumblr posts.

The team suggests that the five significant motivations they found among creative users are similar to those seen previously among those using the Internet more passively, but with social-cognition being a particular motivator of interest. Within this online incentive, users share information, share their point of view, voice their opinions, provide information, present their special interests and participate in topical discussions.

“The findings of this study would help future studies to build a more comprehensive theoretical model, which will allow scholars to understand the factors influencing consumers’ creating behavior of social media content,” the team concludes.


Ham, C-D., Lee, J. and Lee, H-S. (2014) ‘Understanding consumers’ creating behavior in social media: an application of uses and gratifications and the theory of reasoned action’, Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp.241–263.

Why be creative on social media? is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot
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New Editor for the International Journal of Cognitive Performance Support

Professor Neil Y. Yen of the University of Aizu in Japan has been appointed as the new Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cognitive Performance Support.

Special issue published: "The Natural Environment, Innovation and Business"

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management 18(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 2013 Conference Corporate Sustainability and Eco-Innovations.

• Reliability of carbon footprint as a decision-making tool for product development - a critical review
• How do office buildings take advantage of energy efficiency? A study of the relationship between operating expenses and energy certification
• EU corporate social responsibility regulations vs. practice in the private and public sector
• The comparison of socially responsible indices in Central and Eastern Europe

Additional paper

• Novel grey models for the trend forecast of Taiwan waste gas apparatus

Call for papers: "New Scopes in Embedded Computing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Embedded Systems.

Today's society needs new developments in the field of computing, and requires interconnection between several technological fields. The integration of computing and technology in even more and more user devices has turned it into a reality. New issues related to computer science and engineering and communications and their interactions suggest new directions of research and applications.

For instance, in current information systems development, areas such as computer-aided design and computer graphics and visualisation are critical when a system needs to present information to users in a simple, effective way that’s responsive to the needs they have on each occasion. Furthermore, thanks to contextual systems which have been made possible by the incorporation of hardware devices into users’ everyday devices, information systems can get massive amounts of information. This information – thanks largely to the techniques of applied data mining, big-data and parallel computing – provides intelligence and adaptability to user technologies. Thus, interfaces adapted to the specific needs of users become a reality.

Moreover, the implementation of embedded systems in the field of communications raises new issues related to the interaction between computer science and communications, both from the theoretical and technological points of view. Special attention is being focused on important aspects such as resource constraints, power saving, data management, quality of service and security issues, in consideration of different fields of application (automotive, sensor networks, transport systems such as railways systems, mobile communications and networked embedded systems).

This special issue aims to present innovative works in the field of (traditional and ubiquitous) computing using cross techniques in order to achieve high-value targets for society. These aims include energy efficiency; adaptability; technological gap reduction and assistive environments; continuous monitoring systems generation; and secure, reliable and efficient transport and communications systems.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Computer Science and Engineering (MIC-Computing 2014), 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, the following:

• Computer-aided design
• Embedded computing and applications
• Artificial intelligence and applications
• Computer graphics and visualisation
• Data mining and knowledge discovery
• Green computing and networking
• Peer-to-peer computing
• Mobile computing and applications
• Computer science foundations
• Software engineering and applications
• Computer engineering and technology
• Parallel and distributed computing
• Computer vision and applications
• Mobile communications
• Quality of service over embedded systems
• Security
• Transport systems

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 October, 2015

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles are now available here for free:

• An innovative approach to battery management and propulsion system of electric/hybrid electric vehicle
• Bus vehicle hybridisation and its impacts on driving cycle fuel consumption
• Suppression measures for electromagnetic emission interference in low frequency range in hybrid electric vehicles
• Analysis of EMI on control signal line of DC power converter of electric vehicle
• Intelligent power management of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, part I: real-time optimum SOC trajectory builder
• Intelligent power management of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, part II: real-time route based power management

How smart are you with your smart phone?

In the age of the smart phone, how smart are the mobile shoppers who use these almost ubiquitous devices? A study from South Korea published in the International Journal of Mobile Communications hopes to answer that question.

Thae Min Lee of the Department of Business Administration, at Chungbuk National University, South Korea, and colleagues suggest that the received wisdom, particularly among mobile consumers, is that they can browse for and purchase items with a greater sense of efficacy compared with traditional shoppers. However, the researchers have looked at the emotive responses of purportedly smart shoppers when faced with price promotions and suggest that impulse buying rather than smart decision making is predominant.

“Smart phones have changed consumers’ everyday lives,” the team says. There have been many changes in consumer behaviour related to the ease with which information can now be acquired even while on the move. Moreover, the sharing of information is even more facile now so that consumers feel empowered by their access to social networking sites, customer-driven product review sites and other online sources of information, all accessible via their smart phones.

Earlier surveys of users of smart phones and tablet computers suggest that consumers are led by the devices in that they make more impulse purchases because the buying process is so easy. Lee and colleagues have investigated the emotive aspects of being a “smart” consumer – buying satisfaction, self-confidence, impulse buying, purchase regret and other dimensions of mobile shopping.

The current research suggests that many consumers, believing they are smart shoppers, are making more impulse purchases based on price promotions and the like. Ease of access to online shopping apps and sites as opposed to the need to make a trip to a shopping mall or supermarket has led to the illusion of control. Those people who do the most mobile shopping believe they have more knowledge and know-how about shopping than traditional shoppers and feel that they are saving more time, money and effort, which in some cases they may well be. However, if they are making purchases of unnecessary goods and luxuries that they would normally not make, then they are inevitably wasting money regardless of the savings coupon, online cashback or other price promotion.

Park, C., Jun, J.K. and Lee, T.M. (2015) ‘Do mobile shoppers feel smart in the smartphone age?’, Int. J. Mobile Communications, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.157–171.
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Newly announced journal: International Journal of Export Marketing

The International Journal of Export Marketing offers an international, peer-reviewed outlet for export marketing, which is an increasingly important research topic mainly because exporting largely deals with marketing-related issues (foreign market selection, marketing strategy adaptation, export-overseas distributor relations) and its multifaceted character makes it possible to enrich the field with insights from different theoretical and practical perspectives. Exporting is also the most common way for smaller-size firms to enter international markets, since, compared to other foreign direct-entry modes, it involves fewer resources/costs and lower risks.

Call for papers: "Advances in Mobile Cloud Computing and Social Networking"

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

Mobile cloud computing and social networking have gained more and more attention in recent years. This special issue will focus on state-of-the-art research paradigms in social networking and cloud computing, particularly on advances in mobile computing technologies and related areas.

Cloud computing is a rapidly developing paradigm in the area of computing. There has been a phenomenal burst of activity in mobile cloud computing, which extends cloud computing functions, services and results to the world of next-generation mobile communication applications, and to the paradigm of cloud computing and virtualisation to mobile networks.

Social networks contribute a significant fraction of internet traffic, and increasingly this traffic is from mobile social networking. This situation has spurred considerable recent research interest in mobile social networks. Social networks have been studied for decades, although most of the earlier work in this area addressed issues lying outside the scope of technological networks. There exist several challenges and design issues that need to be overcome and integrated with different kinds of social network technologies. More recently, social network models that treat relationships as connections to form networks or graphs have emerged in mobile internet and mobile computing/communications as the foundations of cloud-based applications and services.

However, there are still significant technological challenges in the development of cloud infrastructure and mobile terminal devices, and the purpose of this special issue is to highlight recent advances in this field.

This issue will focus on the research challenges and issues in the mobile cloud computing paradigm. It aims to provide a platform for researchers from both academia and industry to present their latest state-of-art research results and methodologies addressing top concerns in mobile cloud computing and mobile social networking to other researchers as well as practitioners and policymakers.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Next Generation Computing Technologies (NGCT 2015), 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, the following:

• 3G/4G systems, Wi-MAX, WLAN, WPAN, MANets, Petrinets
• Cloud performance and tuning
• Cloud storage, data and analytics
• Cross-layer design and optimisation for mobile cloud computing
• Cryptography, security and privacy of mobile networks
• Data centres and virtualisations
• Distributed algorithms of mobile computing
• Evolution of social media and information ecosystems
• Experimental test-beds and prototype designs and implementations
• Green mobile cloud
• Green wireless network architectures and communication protocols
• Identity and simulation of social networks
• Intelligent multimedia computing in clouds
• M2M communication
• Mobile cloud computing architecture, design and evaluation
• Mobile IP networks
• Mobile social networks
• Mobile, peer-to-peer and pervasive services in clouds
• Mobile commerce and mobile internet of things
• Modelling, performance evaluation, QoS provisioning and resource management in mobile cloud computing
• Near field communication services
• Network virtualisation and cloud-based radio access networks
• Operating system and middleware support for mobile computing
• Pricing and billing for mobile cloud computing services
• Privacy and security in mobile social networks
• Scalability of social networks
• Security and privacy of mobile cloud computing
• Service-oriented architectures, service portability, P2P
• Smart cities, smart environments and smart grid
• Smart transportation
• Smart vehicular networks
• Social networking applications and services
• Synchronisation and scheduling issues in mobile and ad hoc networks
• System architecture, protocols, middleware, deployment and operations and standards for cloud-based mobile social networks
• Terminal device technology to enable mobile social networks

Important Dates
Manuscript submission due: 30 November, 2015
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 28 February, 2016
Revised/final paper due: 30 March, 2016

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design are now available here for free:

• Fourth generation detour matrix-based topological descriptors for QSAR/QSPR - Part-2: application in development of models for prediction of biological activity
• Combining multiple clusterings of chemical structures using cluster-based similarity partitioning algorithm 
• Optimisation of miRNA-mRNA relationship prediction using biological features
• Plant defence model revisions through iterative minimisation of constraint violations 
• A study on druggability of MIA as a promising approach for inhibition of metastasis

Call for papers: "Data Mining and Service Science for Innovation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Soft Data Paradigms.

Recently, in developing countries as well as developed countries, the percentage of service industries accounting for industrial structure has increased rapidly. In business, for example, management, marketing, engineering and other services are important factors for inter-company competition, and service productivity is expected to increase through scientific observation and deeper understanding of the services. Improving existing services or establishing new ones based on knowledge gained from data is particularly a source of important innovation and feedback is being gathered from many researchers or and practitioners.

 

This special issue aims to investigate how data analysis techniques such as data mining aid in reforming existing services or in forming new ones. The issue aims to propose future directions through the awareness of the research gap in data analysis techniques and service sciences, and to gather further research into service science based on a wide range of data. The issue will provide a communication platform to aid the exchange of new ideas between people involved in service management and data scientists. Furthermore, we hope to propose new topics, models, analysis methods and theories relating to service science, based on the issue’s data.

 

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

• Techniques
• Data mining
• Machine learning
• Text and semi-structured data mining
• Pattern recognition
• Knowledge representation
• Statistics and probability
• Service ontologies and modelling
• Service applications
• Engineering
• Management
• Marketing
• Operation processes
• Medical treatment
• Public administration

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 20 July, 2015

Notification to authors: 21 September, 2015

Final versions due: 20 November, 2015

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of System of Systems Engineering

The following sample articles from the International Journal of System of Systems Engineeringare now available here for free:

• Modelling and measuring the operability of interdependent systems and systems of systems: advances in methods and applications
• Drought risk modelling for thermoelectric power plants siting using an excess over threshold approach
• Using behavioural observation and game technology to support critical infrastructure security
• Evaluating the effect of resource constraints on resilience of bulk power system with an electric power restoration model

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Public Policy

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Public Policy are now available here for free:

• Banks, policy, and risks: how emerging markets differ
• A political economy of sub-national government spending in India
• Aid securitisation: beyond IFFIm
• The economic impacts of United Nations peacekeeping operations: growth versus level effects
• Willingness to pay for reliable power in the presence of resource depletion: the case of groundwater and electricity in Tamil Nadu
• Curbing marital violence through social policies: perspectives from the Bangladesh demographic and health survey

Special issue published: "Advances in Networking and Signal Processing for Social Security"

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology 51(2) 2015

• A probabilistic analysis of border node-based MFR routing protocol for vehicular ad hoc networks
• OPRM: an efficient hybrid routing protocol for sparse VANETs
• Palm vein pattern-based biometric recognition system
• Distributed dynamic clustering protocol for wireless sensor network
• Finger multibiometric cryptosystem based on score-level fusion
• Pattern recognition by embedded reduced number of angles fingerprint algorithm in biometric machines augments security
• Touch-less palm print recognition system based on fusion of local and global features

Call for papers: "Collective Intelligence Computer-Aided Methods for Sustainable Agriculture"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics.

Sustainable agriculture is the principle of providing long-term economic viability of farms, while maintaining environment quality. Sustainability brings important benefits, but requires an adequate monitoring (e.g. of the soil, crops and weather) as well as the knowledge of good practices by farmers. In many developing countries, these two requirements can be difficult to meet.

The aim of the special issue is to present computer-aided methods for sustainable agriculture that rely on collective intelligence. In this domain, collective intelligence refers to the collaboration of several users in order to improve the quality of the computer-aided decisions. For instance, farmers working in the same village could collaborate in several ways: to relay the data monitored in fields to the village centre, to improve the confidence in the relayed data (through multi-modality data refinement), or to help distributing generated advices and warnings to other farmers.

Overall, the collective intelligence computer-aided methods include the monitoring of fields or weather (using wireless sensor networks, image processing, etc.), the estimation of the accuracy of the data, the collection of the monitored data, the data analysis (using signal processing methods), the computer-based decision-making, the automatic generation of advices for farmers, as well as the privacy aspects.

Contributions to this special issue are expected to present recent innovative results, both academic and practical. Priority will be given to contributions based on real experiments or on real datasets.

Academicians, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and observers will be informed by the strategies, good practices or policies relevant to the topic and critical issues.

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

• Computer-aided fields monitoring
• Data quality estimation, data refinement, multi-modality
• Data analysis, signal processing, graph signal processing
• Decision algorithms, operational research, learning algorithms, artificial intelligence
• Collective intelligence
• Intuitive user interfaces
• Security, confidentiality, privacy
• Social and economic impacts of sustainable agriculture and computer-aided agriculture

Important Dates

Submission of Manuscripts: 24 July, 2015

Free sample articles newly available from Int. Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation are now available here for free:

• Predicting the present with Bayesian structural time series
• Estimating marketing response models by MCMC
• Identification in multivariate partial observability probit
• Learning and loss functions: comparing optimal and operational monetary policy rules
• Transmission of news shocks in a small open economy DSGE model Ashish Rajbhandari
• Trends and cycles in non-stationary panel models Wensheng Kang
• The formation of non-tariff barriers: an integrated framework for empirical analysis

Real money, that’s what we (still) want (for now)

We will still be using real money for at least the next 5 to 10 years, but financial transactions carried out using mobile electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers, will increasingly become the norm during that time period, according to research published in the International Journal of Electronic Business.

Key Pousttchi and Josef Felten of the University of Augsburg and Jürgen Moormann of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany, explain how social media and mobile devices are being utilised increasingly by banks while the power of the individual customer is being augmented by the same technologies. Moreover, those technologies are also leading to novel financial services such as online bartering systems and virtual currencies, crowd funding and online social borrowing and lending. Given that the banking sector was among the first industries to widely adopt information technology – everything from financial planning and credit-decision systems to automated teller machines – none of this is any surprise.

However, in order to understand future trends, the team has carried out a Delphi study, a systematic and interactive forecasting methodology, the results of which suggest that mobile finance will continue to grow during the next decade in retail banking, but conventional transactions will remain largely predominant for at least another 5 to 10 years. Underpinning the evolution of finance is the perhaps too slow recognition by financial institutions that the relationship between customer and bank remains important and especially so in the age of social media and networking. In that era, everyone’s opinion can count and a simple mistake or disinterest on the part of a corporation can become today’s “viral” news story and a possible step down the road to ruin for the unwary company.
The team’s study demonstrates that complex issues will continue to be dealt with through direct, personal communication while standard processes will be subsumed by new media tools providing customer and bank with the new typical form of access.

Pousttchi, K., Moormann, J. and Felten, J. (2015) ‘The impact of new media on bank processes: a Delphi study’, Int. J. Electronic Business, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.1–45.

Real money, that’s what we (still) want (for now) is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot
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Special Issue published: "NANOTECH-MEET" Conferences in Tunisia

International Journal of Nanotechnology 12(8/9) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the NANOTECH Tunisia 2014 and MEET Tunisia 2014 joint international conferences.

• Functionalised magnetic beads on gold surface for C-reactive protein detection
• Rhodium-decorated MWCNTs for detecting organic vapours
• Physical and optical waveguiding properties of sol-gel deposited nano-structured TiO2 thin films: a study on the effect of synthesis parameters
• Characterisation of the GaAs-based intermediate band solar cell with multi-stacked InAs/InGaAs quantum dots
• Superhydrophobic surface produced on polyimide and silicon by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition from hexamethyldisiloxane precursor
• Formation and characterisation of copper oxide coating for absolute radiant laser power measurement absorbing cavity
• Uncertainty communication in the environmental life cycle assessment of carbon nanotubes
• Polyol-made stoichiometric Co0.2Ni0.3Zn0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles: synthetic optimisation, structural, and microstructural studies
• Optical effects of Si-delta doping of GaAs spacer layer on the vertical coupled multi-stacked InAs/InGaAs/GaAs intermediate-band solar cells
• Band gap modifications of two-dimensional defected MoS2
• Theoretical study of the optical properties of Si1−xGex alloy, and Si/Ge and Ge/Si core/shell nanoparticles
• Improvement of absorption in organic solar cells using tri-layer anode
• Structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of 1% Fe-doped ZnO powder nanostructures prepared by mechanical alloying
• Humidity sensor characteristics based on ZnO nanostructure grown by sol-gel method
• Study and realisation of an original silicon-germanium light trap detector for large band radiometric measurements
• A simulation study of an operational amplifier with non-ideal carbon nanotube transistor: case of scattering effect

Special issue published: "Converged Networks, Technologies and Applications"

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering 10(3) 2015

Includes extended versions of papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Internet and DistributedComputing Systems (IDCS 2012) and the 6th InternationalConference on Network and System Security (NSS 2012).

• A privacy-preserving efficient RFID authentication protocol from SLPN assumption
• An aperiodic checkpointing strategy in desktop grids
• On action permutation and progress for a type system with partially commutative asynchronous binary sessions
• Heterogeneous wireless network vertical handoff decision using hybrid multi-criteria decision-making technique
• Private friends on a social networking site operated by an overly curious SNP
• Protecting peer-to-peer-based massively multiplayer online games
• Service-oriented network architecture: significant issues and principles of communication
• A holistic community-based architecture for measuring end-to-end QoS at data centres

Special issue published: "Application of CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries"

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal 15(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 9th International Conference on CFD in the Minerals and Process Industries (CFD 2012).

• Using CFD to derive reduced order models for heat transfer in particle curtains
• The significance of lift forces in intensely stirred bubble plumes
• How arterial pressures affect the consideration of internal carotid artery angle as a risk factor for carotid artherosclerotic disease
• Process equipment optimisation using CFD and surrogate models
• Numerical modelling of flows in a solar-enhanced vortex gasifier: Part 1, comparison of turbulence models

Additional paper

• Numerical analysis of flow around porous rectangular cylinders with uniform injection or suction

Special issue published: "Paradigm Shifts in Computational Vision and Robotics for Creative Services"

International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics 5(2) 2015

• Discrimination algorithm using voiced detection method and time-delay neural network system by 3 FFT sub-bands
• Study of finite word-length effect on the performance of watermarking methods
• Simple shooting game engine in Python
• Robust visual servoing using global features based on random process
• On creation of reference image for degraded documents binarisation
• Contrast enhancement of digital mammograms using a novel walking ant histogram equalisation
• Objects tracking in video: a object-oriented approach using Unified Modeling Language

Special issue published: "Foundations for Complex System Governance"

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering 6(1/2) 2015

• Systems theory as a foundation for governance of complex systems
• Complex system governance reference model
• Complex system governance requires systems thinking - how to find systems thinkers
• Competencies for governance of complex systems of systems
• A metasystem perspective and implications for governance
• Metasystem communication in governance of complex systems
• Visual resource monitoring for complex multi-project environments
• Environmental scanning implications in the governance of complex systems
• Emerging systems theory-based pathologies for governance of complex systems

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from International Conference on Frontier Computing

Extended versions of papers presented at the 4th International Conference on Frontier Computing (9-11 September 2015, Bangkok, Thailand) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Cognitive Performance Support
• International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering
• International Journal of Embedded Systems
• International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking

Call for papers: "Contextualising Positive Organisational Behaviour: The Case of Sport Organisations"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing.

Nearly two decades ago, Doherty (1998) called for closer attention to be given to human resource management (HRM) issues within the context of sport organisations. More recently, Todd and Kent (2009) offered the theoretical insight that a critical area that distinguishes sporting contexts more than other organisational settings may be the psychology of employees. Although psychology has been criticised as being primarily dedicated to addressing mental illness rather than mental “wellness” (Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008), the seminal work by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) placed more emphasis on positive psychological traits, states and behaviours. This “positive psychology” (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) – to which Todd and Kent (2009) implicitly refer – has subsequently had a great effect on the field of organisational behaviour (OB). For example, both Luthans (2002) and Wright (2003) argued that framing research with a positive lens through so-called positive organisational behaviour (POB) should be the way forward for organisational and management scholars.

According to Luthan (2002), POB is “the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed and effectively managed for performance improvement in the work place” (p. 59). While such an organisation-centred view has its value, Wright (2003) argued that the mission of POB should also encompass the pursuit of employee happiness and health as viable goals in themselves. Bakker and Schaufeli (2008) went even further and drew on the work of Zwetsloot and Pot (2004) to integrate the above-mentioned organisation-centred (Luthan, 2002) and employee-centred (Wright, 2003) views into a “positive business value model of employee health and well-being” (p. 148).

Although more than 3000 articles have been published relating to POB in various contexts (Rothmann and van Zyl, 2013), the sport management scholarly community has failed to explicitly address the matter in its respective context(s). The increase in publications outside the sport industry, however, indicates the need for and impact of positive psychological behaviours within organisations. This special issue seeks to cast a fresh and state-of-the-art eye on how POB shapes and influences the workplace within the sport organisational context. There is still much to learn about how and why POB and a variety of outcomes at work are interlinked, let alone when “there is extensive variability in the scope and size of sport organisations” (Taylor, Doherty and McGraw, 2008, p. 2).

Conceptual, theoretical and empirical works drawing on and engaging with POB are welcome for this issue. We hope that this issue will inspire and encourage scholars to expand their research horizons to investigate employees in flourishing sport organisations. Exploring and/or explaining the applicability/presence of POB in sport organisations is needed to discern (possible) differences highlighted by the sport context, and thus to address the need for theory development whilst acknowledging the various characteristics associated with sport (Chalip, 2006). Indeed, we strongly believe that POB offers a great platform to do what Slack (1998) called for nearly two decades ago: to use sport as a means of extending existing theory.

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

• Passion at work: harmonious versus obsessive passion in sport organisations
• Thriving and flourishing at work: what's the score?
• Resilience: sport executives and team sport organisations
• Happiness at work: beyond the team's results?
• Virtuousness in sport organisations
• Hope and optimism that sport (organisations) can lead to positive social change
• Employees' emotional competence and customer satisfaction linkages
• Satisfaction and work performance
• Organisational commitment in sport charitable organisations
• Feel-good factor of "mega events": beyond the organisation?

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 March, 2016 (extended)
Notification to authors: 30 June, 2016
Final versions due: 31 August, 2016

Special issue published: "Business Development and Co-Creation"

International Journal of Technology Management 68(1/2) 2015

• Academics as orchestrators of continuous innovation ecosystems: towards a fourth generation of CI initiatives
• On business models, resources and exogenous (dis)continuous innovation: evidences from the mobile applications industry
• Applying lean in product development - enabler or inhibitor of creativity?
• Searching for radical new product ideas: exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis for construct validation
• Open models for innovation: an accounting-based perspective
• The stickiness of university spin-offs: a study of formal and informal spin-offs and their location from 124 US academic institutions

Special issue published: "Multiple Criteria Analysis in Decision Support Systems"

International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies 7(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 9th Meeting of Multiple Criteria Decision Aid.

• Unified coding of qualitative and quantitative variables and their analysis with ascendant hierarchical classification
• Integrated aquaculture - an old concept with new applications in Greece
• A simulation methodology for evaluating emergency sourcing strategies of a discrete part manufacturer
• Exploring consumers' attitudes towards paper products that could be derived from transgenic plantations in Greece
• Selection of the most competent project designer based on multi-criteria and cluster analysis
• Strategic decision making using multicriteria analysis: new service development in Greek hotels
• Multicriteria analysis of e-learning courses

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from International Workshop on Cyber Security

Extended versions of papers presented at the First International Workshop on Cyber Security (16-18 October 2015, Xi'an, China) will be published by the following journals:

• International Journal of Embedded Systems
• International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking

Special issue published: "Industrial Tools and Material Processing Technologies – Part 2"

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 10(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 9th International Conference on Industrial Tools and Material Processing Technologies (ICIT&MPT).

• Computer modelling of as-quenched hardness and microstructure composition of steel
• Wear resistance and selection of steels, hardmetals and hardfacings for abrasive wear conditions
• Analysis of interaction between recrystallisation and nitride precipitation in cold rolled Al-killed low carbon steel
• Modelling of remelted and heat affected zone during laser alloying of C45 steel with nickel-based powder
• Microstructural, thermal stability and wear resistance properties of X153CrMoV12 tool steel subjected to deep cryogenic treatment

Special issue published: "Organisation Management Through Value for the Customer"

International Journal of Business Performance Management 16(2/3) 2015

• Creating value for customers through engagement and participation in brand communities
• Value proposition and firm performance: segmentation of Polish online companies
• Value in shopping experiences in the perception of Polish consumers
• The impact of service delivery system effectiveness on service quality: a hierarchical approach
• Hedonic or utilitarian buying behaviours - what values do young adult customers seek in online group buying?
• Influence of selected groceries' marketing mix elements on business performance in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka: retailers' perspective
• Performance measurement approach to show the value for the customer in an industrial service network
• Adding value for customers by providing service quality training (study at Islamic bank in Indonesia)
• Research on time-management skills of employees in the process of creating value for the customer
• Management of value for customers on the culture market
• The relative significance of product quality attributes driving customer satisfaction within the fast fashion market: a UK perspective
• Environmental management systems in food processing and production as a source of product value for the customer on the organic food market
• Analysing the product and service aspects of a manufacturing supply chain: a dairy industry perspective
• Status and impact of strategic technology alliances among telecommunications firms in Nigeria
• Improving the quality of technology-based innovations selection: a quality function deployment approach for retailers

Special issue published: "Entrepreneurship and Management Answers to Selected Interdisciplinary Topics in Difficult Times"

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development 11(2/3) 2015

• Political and military action frame of the European Union in crises management
• Stimulating entrepreneurship by teaching accounting: concept and implementation
• Innovation and knowledge management in a knowledge-based economy 
• Emerging from crisis with new approaches to science of society
• An exploratory investigation on new product development in family luxury businesses
• Strategic R&D internationalisation in developing Asian countries - the Italian experience
• Consequences of investment contract duration on the valuation of firms in maturity stage
• Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and performance during the crisis: cases of the Greek wood industry
• A quality management model for integrated healthcare in Poland
• Monetary and financial policies: a dynamical model approach
• Analysing wellbeing at the crossroads of socioeconomic growth and business ethics
• Different approaches to technology transfer by government and academy
• An analysis of cultural shifts - the examples of Luxembourg, France, Germany

Call for papers: "Model Reference Adaptive Control for Robotic Manipulators"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems.

This special issue aims to bring researchers together to present recent advances and technologies in the field of adaptive control for robotic manipulators – particularly the model reference adaptive control approach – in order to further summarise and improve methodologies in the model reference adaptive control of robotic manipulators.

This call invites both theoretical and empirical studies on this topic.

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

• Model reference adaptive control theories
• Model reference adaptive control design
• Model reference adaptive control of robotic manipulators
• Any topics related to the model reference adaptive control of robotic manipulators

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 12 May, 2017

Special issue published: "Rethink the Challenges and Opportunities in the Emerging of Mobile and Web Community"

International Journal of Web Based Communities 11(2) 2015

• Messages on social networks and its impact on social capital 
• Design 'the Pori hidden beauties geocaching series': computer-supported collaborative web-based learning and sharing experiences
• Cultural influence on online community use: a cross-cultural study on online exercise diary users of three nationalities
• A novel method for clustering tweets in Twitter 
• Purchase intention and word of mouth in social apps
• Motivation to collaboration in TED Open Translation Project

Int. J. of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology to publish expanded papers from ICATS'15

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Automatic Control, Telecommunication and Signals (16-18 November 2015, Annaba, Algeria) will be published by the International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology.

Special issue published: "Evolution of Modern Manufacturing Processes, Technologies and Materials"

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 50(3/4) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the Modern Technologies in Industrial Engineering Conference (ModTech2013).

• Application of waste materials as 'low cost' sorbents for industrial effluent treatment: a comparative overview
• Aerosol-assisted processing of hierarchically organised TiO2 nanoparticles
• On force-deflection diagrams of fibre-metal composites connected by means of bolt joints 
• Modelling and investigation of a piezo composite actuator application
• Study of mechanical properties and computer simulation of composite materials reinforced by metal 
• Structural effects of high-temperature plastic deformation process on martensite plate morphology in a Fe-Mn-Si-Cr SMA
• Technological similarity theory model for series of types of constructions
• Kinematic and rock-breaking characteristics of new drill bit with swirling bottom-hole model
• Appraisal of the effectiveness of chosen management processes
• Comparison of active and semi-active damping in synthesis of various mechatronic discrete systems 
• Effect of nano ZnO2 and lime water curing on strength and water absorption of concrete
• Precision forging of alternator poles by flow control method

Int. J. of Computational Economics and Econometrics to publish expanded papers from ICOAE 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Applied Economics 2015 (2-4 July 2015, Kazan, Russia) will be published by the International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics.

Special issue published: "Challenges for Electromobility"

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 15(2) 2015

Includes extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference of the Armand Peugeot Research Chair on Electromobility 2013.

• Food for thought: which organisation and ecosystem governance to boost radical innovation in the electromobility 2.0 industry?
• Competing and co-existing business models for EV: lessons from international case studies
• Personal car or shared car? Predicting potential modal shifts from multinomial logit models and bootstrap confidence intervals
• Electric vehicle fleet contributions for isolated systems. The case of the Canary Islands
• Norwegian electric car user experiences

Inderscience is media partner for Applied Nanotechnology and Nanoscience International Conference

Inderscience is a media partner for the Applied Nanotechnology and Nanoscience International Conference 2015 (7 November 2015, Paris, France).

The journals involved are:

• International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials
• International Journal of Nanomanufacturing
• International Journal of Nanoparticles
• International Journal of Nanotechnology

Special issue published: "Information Technology and Complexity Management"

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 14(2/3) 2015

• Combining barcodes and RFID in a hybrid solution to improve hospital pharmacy logistics processes
• Research on emergency resources storage region division based on two-stage stochastic programming
• Comprehensive evaluation of marketing channel risk of beverage enterprise on the basis of GRA-Fuzzy-AHP
• Great East Japan Earthquake emergency evolution and contingency decision based on system engineering approach
• The interplay among software volatility, complexity and development outcomes: evidence from open source software
• Mining top-k influential nodes in social networks via community detection
• A novel approach for imputation of missing continuous attribute values in databases using genetic algorithm
• A distributed maximal frequent itemset mining with multi agents system on bitmap join indexes selection
• Information and communication technology: a tool for increasing marketing efficiency

Chemical security

The slow implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) in the USA as part of homeland security and anti-terrorism measures is leaving chemical plants vulnerable and putting at risk the safety of American citizens, according to research published in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructures.

Maria Rooijakkers and Abdul-Akeem Sadiq of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, at Indiana University-Purdue University, in Indianapolis, explain that post-9/11 efforts to safeguard the chemical sector gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to regulate the safety and security of US chemical facilities. In April 2007, DHS added an interim final rule, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), but the latest information suggests that very few chemical facilities have completed the necessary implementations.

The team suggests that the chemical industry and DHS must now work more closely together before it is too late to ensure the safety and security of the US population. They also add that communities should not wait for CFATS to be implemented before developing their own preparedness and response plans in anticipation of possible chemical disasters in the future, whether caused by terrorism or accident.

The chemical sector is a vital part of the US economy, the team says, based on 2009 data it represents almost 2 percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) and is the nation’s greatest exporter. The industry also contributes materials to a vast array of other industries from automotive and aeronautics to agriculture and healthcare. The chemical industry employs almost 1 million people directly and sustains an additional 5.5 million jobs in other sectors. Moreover, it is officially considered to be part of the USA’s critical infrastructure as stated in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) of 2009 being essential to sustenance of the economy and government itself.

The prominence and importance of the chemical industry as well as the proximity of its facilities to densely populated areas make it a particularly vulnerable target for terrorist attack, hence the DHS interest and rules. Indeed, four of the fifteen National Planning Scenarios are related to chemical attacks, the team points out. However, of the 3468 chemical facilities given their final tier designations under CFATS in 2007, a mere 40 of these had had their plans approved by 2013 and the pace of adoption and implement is yet to pick up.

Rooijakkers, M. and Sadiq, A-A. (2015) ‘Critical infrastructure, terrorism, and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards: the need for collaboration’, Int. J. Critical Infrastructures, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp.167–182

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

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Call for papers: "Nanoelectronic Circuits and Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Circuits and Architecture Design.

This special issue covers all design and architectural aspects of emerging nanotechnologies and looks for papers on innovative ideas to overcome the fundamental limitations of conventional technology. It ranges from efficient low level design up to related issues to high level Nano system structures. Design automation of such systems including methodologies, techniques and tools for their design as well as novel designs of Nano scale components fall within the scope of this journal.

 

Manuscripts are also invited in the areas of nanomaterial, nanodevice, nanomanufacturing, and integration ideas with application potential in nanoscale architectures such as magnonic, memristor, CNT, SET, FinFETs, and QCA.

 

The aim of the special issue is to provide a platform for researchers to understand and access the most recent scientific information in particular areas of emerging nanotechnologies.

 

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

• Nanoelectronic devices, systems and structures
• Integration ideas with a focus on nanoarchitectures
• Nanomagnetics and nanomolecular electronics
• Nanodevice and nanocircuit models, methodologies and simulations
• Fault tolerance and reliability in nanofabrication
• Fundamental limits of computing at the nanoscale
• New architectures for hybrid CMOS/nanodevice systems

 

Important Dates

Submission of Manuscripts: 30 June, 2015

Notification to Authors: 31 August, 2015

Final Versions Due: 31 October, 2015

Special issue published: "Building Information System Capabilities in the Age of Complexity"

International Journal of Business Information Systems 18(4) 2015

• Supply chain management practices - IT utilisation alignment: impact on supply chain performance and firm performance
• Environmental social governance management: a theoretical perspective for the role of disclosure in the supply chain
• Quantitative analysis of the effects of dual integration on firm's competitiveness
• Success factors of online services in Kathmandu, Nepal: an empirical analysis
• Interaction of marketing, R&D and critical innovation: case study of Korean and Japanese firms
• A professional training programme design for global manufacturing strategy: investigations and action project group activities through industry-university cooperation
• International entrepreneurship and information technology strategies of the multinational enterprises from emerging markets
• The role of IT for global firms in emerging markets
• Stakeholders' pressure and managerial responses: lessons from hybrid car development and commercialisation

April Research Picks Extra

Genetic test for radiation exposure

Ionizing radiation damages DNA in living cells. As such changes in “biomarkers” could be used to reveal who had been exposed to low levels of radiation from nuclear facilities as opposed to members of the public, according to research from a team in Iran. The team focused on changes in protein expression of two genes – IFNg and TGFb1 genes – that were indicative of exposure to radiation. Expression of these genes is essential in the face of radiation damage if the cells are to survive and so the production of their respective proteins is widespread throughout the body. The same test to reveal whether or not a person was affected adversely as a nuclear industry worker might also be used to reveal whether or not someone had been exposed to unwarranted levels of diagnostic or therapeutic radiation.

Fardid, R., Bahreyni- Toossi, M.T., Rezaee, A., Sadr-nabavi, A. and Rafatpanah, H. (2014) ‘Expression of IFNg and TGFb1 genes can distinguish radiation workers from the normal population’, Int. J. Low Radiation, Vol. 9, Nos. 5/6, pp.396–408.

Kiss and tell

Extravagant 1970s heavy rock group, Kiss, were famous for their outlandish costumes, characteristic black and white face paint and for both their onstage and offstage performances. They are also famous as a rare commodity in the modern popular music industry in that their records, concerts and merchandise sold in vast units and turned a pretty penny for all concerned. Now, a study by researchers in Australia and Fiji Islands reveals in accountancy terms, just how well Kiss were able to extend and exploit the basic concept of the “band” for the purposes of capital accumulation; their turnover in 1978 equaling that of a Fortune 500 company (at US $111 million), with half of that coming from merchandising. The researchers suggest that the band also built enormously on the concept of the “American Dream”. One has to wonder whether the business-minded musicians of today will ever reap such rewards again.

James, K. and Grant, B. (2014) ‘‘I was made for loving you’: ‘Kiss’ as perpetual capitalist entertainment product’, Int. J. Critical Accounting, Vol. 6, Nos. 5/6, pp.452–468.

Face facts

Biometric security systems can be spoofed, a fingerprint fabricated in latex, contact lenses worn to change the eyes, but the human face as a whole should be even more difficult to exploit in a fraudulent breach of such a system. However, hackers and crackers are a determined group and one can imagine methods of carrying out a “face-spoofing” attack on a system. Now, researchers in India have developed a highly accurate “liveness” detection system for analyzing the structure of a face presented to a biometric security system to preclude such attacks more than 98 time out of 100. Their system works on the basis of obtain 3D face information from the left and right side of an image recorded with a stereoscopic camera. Various algorithms need only a small sample from the total data and so would not be computationally overpowering in an on-demand system. Principal component analysis gave them the best precision so far at 98.3%.

Singh, A.K., Joshi, P. and Nandi, G.C. (2014) ‘Face liveness detection through face structure analysis’, Int. J. Applied Pattern Recognition, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.338–360.

Brand motivation on social media

What motivates users of social media to “engage” with consumer brands? According to researchers in Turkey, a vital social media strategy is essential for brands today hoping to retain or gain market share from competitors. Consumers and potential customers expect brands to have a presence on social media networks for information, special offers, competitions and as an outlet for complaints and where grievances might be addressed. But, the researchers suggest that companies need to understand in detail the motivation of those consumers and customers on social media if they are to detect consumer segments and to benefit from their almost obligatory presence on such sites. The team points out that while the consumer perspective may have changed where window shopping has become an active online activity rather than a passive activity in the high street or mall, the process of making the decision to purchase still depends on quality, price, brand loyalty and other traditional factors. “It is still important for brands to build a connection with users and fostering a sense of belonging for them,” the team says. “Social media, with its diverse domains, is convenient for brands to fulfill the consumers’ desire of engagement and affiliation with them.”

Yilmaz, H. and Enginkaya, E. (2015) ‘Brand followers: motivations and attitudes of consumers to follow brands in social media’, Int. J. Internet Marketing and Advertising, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp.3–20.

April Research Picks Extra is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot » Inderscience http://ift.tt/1NFSlCj