31 October 2016

Inderscience is media partner for Paediatric Clinical Trials 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Paediatric Clinical Trials (20-21 March 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:
More information on this event is available here.

Special issue published: "Cloud Computing and Applications"

International Journal of Cloud Computing 5(3) 2016
  • A broker framework for selecting secure cloud service provider using security risk approach
  • Reinforce cloud computing access control with key policy attribute-based anonymous proxy reencryption
  • An enhanced approach for data sharing security in cloud computing
  • Homomorphic encryption applied to secure storage and treatments of data in cloud
  • A bio-inspired hybrid algorithm for effective load balancing in cloud computing

First issue: International Journal of Earthquake and Impact Engineering (free sample issue available)

Earthquake and impact engineering are essential disciplines affecting the lives and properties of citizens in many parts of the world. They aim to understand the impact of seismic loading on buildings and other structures and infrastructures, avoiding future disasters. The International Journal of Earthquake and Impact Engineering is a peer-reviewed research journal offering an international forum fostering discussion on all aspects of the topic. It highlights the areas of earthquake hazard mitigation, preparedness and recovery germane to practicing engineers and reflecting state-of-the-art research.

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

Inderscience is media partner for Parallel Trade 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Parallel Trade (6-7 February 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:
More information on this event is available here.

28 October 2016

Special issue published: "Fostering Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Sustainability"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 20(5/6) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Management Cases 2015.
  • Incubation manager roles in the co-innovation context
  • Instabilities in international joint ventures: a study of the Tata DoCoMo case
  • From local gardens to the national market: the case of cut flowers in Kathmandu
  • Attributes influencing buying of residential apartments
  • "I have ideas but I don't want to say them aloud." Employee-driven innovation discourses at a retail chain store
  • Vini Cosmetics: the blue ocean strategy to unlock new markets and boost profits
  • Determinants of brand equity in digital satellite television services: evidence from Dish Home of Nepal
  • Expanding the board's contribution to corporate social responsibility
  • India Machinery Stores: a burgeoning success story of an entrepreneur
  • The 'privileged witness': advising scientists to start research-based spin-offs
  • Agri-business of the Best Cold Storage - a case study

Inderscience is media partner for Innovation Evolution West 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Innovation Evolution West 2017 (6-7 April 2017, San Francisco, USA).

The journals involved are:
More information on this event is available here.

Special issue published: "Modelling and Simulation of Precision Machining Processes"

International Journal of Precision Technology 6(3/4) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 9th International Conference on Precision, Meso, Micro and Nano Engineering (COPEN).
  • Kinematical design of a precision cylindrical grinder with volumetric error modelling and sensitivity analysis
  • Tool wear prediction by using wavelet transform
  • Investigation on micromilling of through microslots on titanium by electrochemical micromachining
  • Sustainability modelling and assessment in high-speed turning of Inconel 718
  • A novel plasma-assisted atomistic surface finishing on freeform surfaces of fused silica
  • Fatigue behaviour of direct metal laser sintered Inconel 718

Inderscience is media partner for 5th Annual Medical Device Safety Monitoring & Reporting

Inderscience is a media partner for the 5th Annual Medical Device Safety Monitoring & Reporting (24-26 January 2017, Las Vegas, USA).

The journals involved are:

27 October 2016

Special issue published: "Behaviours in Emerging Services"

International Journal of Services Technology and Management 22(6) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 14th Wuhan International Conference on E-Business 2015.
  • Impact of design elements on performance in online innovation contests: contest sequence as a moderator
  • How should search ads platform balance ads quality and quantity: comparison between business search and community search ads
  • Impact of marketing channel caused by relationship marketing of online social network
  • How to counteract negative effect of adverse selection in Chinese e-commerce market? Comparative analysis on credit scoring system and guarantee system of TAOBAO
Additional paper
  • Design and analysis of the artificial bee colony algorithms for domain-oriented QoS-aware service composition

Special issue published: "Wine"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 29(4) 2016
  • How can a wine grower articulate the different types of time: the time of the weather, the economic time, and the human time?
  • Passion over pragmatism: the motivation of Australian winery owners
  • Congruency between colour and shape of the front labels of wine: effects on fluency and aroma and quality perceptions
  • Non-personal and personal determinants of red wine purchase rather than other wines among Chinese consumers: modelling multilevel and cross-level interactions
  • A study of the performance of fine wine on the Swiss market
  • Financial market contagion and fine wines: the evidence of the ADCC GARCH model
  • International entrepreneurship, export planning and export performance: evidence from a sample of winemaking SMEs
  • Analysis of the determinants of export modes used by French wine businesses
  • The horizon problem in Bordeaux wine cooperatives

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Biologics and Biosimilars Congress

Inderscience is a media partner for 3rd Biologics and Biosimilars Congress (6-7 March 2017, Berlin, Germany).

The journal involved is the International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design.



Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Business Competition and Growth

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Business Competition and Growth are now available here for free:
  • Quantifying executive threats: shareholder litigation
  • Profit persistence in emerging markets: empirical evidence from Indian banking sector
  • Influence of materialism and money attitudes on credit card use
  • Singapore as an accountancy hub - a Porter's Diamond perspective
  • Effect on stakeholders' perception of CSR: analysis of information dynamics through social media
  • Competition barriers and foreign subsidiary growth: propositions on the contextual role of strategic orientation

26 October 2016

Inderscience is media partner for Next-Generation Robotics & Automation: Automotive Manufacturing Europe 2016

Inderscience is a media partner for Next-Generation Robotics & Automation: Automotive Manufacturing Europe 2016 (28-29 November 2016, Birmingham, UK).

The journals involved are:

Special issue published: "Reconfigurable Computing in Wireless Networks"

International Journal of Information and Communication Technology 9(4) 2016
  • Localised multi-root node mesh model for seamless handover in wireless personal networks
  • Mitigation of ionospheric scintillations for GPS signals under geomagnetic storm conditions using LMS adaptive filter
  • On the construction of localised topology structures in wireless networks
  • Priority-based quality of service guaranteed radio resource allocation in long term evolution network
  • Projective plane-based key pre-distribution by key copying and exchanging based on connected dominating set in distributed wireless sensor networks
  • Fountain codes based on modulo and neural network
  • Selfish node detection based on evidence by trust authority and selfish replica allocation in DANET
  • EEG-based motor imagery classification in BCI system by using unscented Kalman filter

Inderscience is media partner for World Vaccine Congress Washington 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for World Vaccine Congress Washington (10-12 April 2017, Washington D.C., USA).

The journals involved are:
More information on this event is available here.

Call for papers: "Coping with Uncertainty in Complex Socio-Economic Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics.

Economies are sophisticated social systems characterised by pervasive uncertainty, which makes agents’ behaviours and systemic outcomes difficult to predict. The study of such systems thus requires new datasets and more reliable statistical techniques. This is a necessary requirement for enabling policymakers to assess and regulate economic performance vis-à-vis uncertainty.
 
This special issue aims to attract papers to raise a rigorous scientific debate on the many interconnections between uncertainty and socio-economic performance, by focusing on the tools offered by modern quantitative socio-economic science.
 
Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Measuring and communicating uncertainty
  • Uncertainty propagation in relational systems
  • Sensitivity analysis and robustness methods
  • Network dynamics and resilience
  • Agent-based and game-theory modelling of uncertain environments
  • Risk analysis
  • Chaotic socio-economic systems
  • Causal inference and identification under uncertainty
  • Time series analysis and forecasting techniques
  • Big data analysis
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 20 November, 2016
Notification to authors: 15 January, 2017
Final versions due: 15 May, 2017

25 October 2016

Special issue published: "Agile Methods for Sustainable Mobility"

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 9(3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 22nd ISPE Inc. International Conference on Concurrent Engineering.
  • Sustainable design and its interfaces: an overview
  • Framework to support the aircraft digital counterpart concept with an industrial design view
  • Cloud big data application for transport
  • Management of marine logistics in the case of emergency or disaster

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology to publish expanded papers from BDCA'17

Extended versions of papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Big Data, Cloud and Applications (29-30 March 2017, Tetuan, Morocco) will be published by the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology.

Call for papers: "Wireless Networks and the Internet of Things"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions.

Relevant technologies and benchmarks related to wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have developed considerably over the past few years. Earlier wireless sensor networks found some commercial success in applications such as smart metering systems, and the Internet of Things (IoT) standard has progressively expanded to cover applications in many daily life contexts.
 
The standard now encompasses several technologies beyond intelligent technologies, while the internet continuously advances our expectations of permanent interaction with the physical environment. In addition, performance evaluation is an important factor, with diverse approaches ranging from mathematical analysis and statistical simulations to new technologies analysis. Each of them has its own unique advantages and disadvantages for different application areas.
 
This special issue on technological advances in WSNs enabling diverse applications such as consumer IoT or industrial IoT will focus on the latest research and applications in this area, and on the adoption of WSNs from perspectives ranging from the physical layer to the application layer. They include, for instance, cost, security and privacy, perceived reliability, maintenance, efficient data aggregation and processing.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
  • Network design issues for consumer IoT
  • Network design
  • Real-time and fault tolerance issues
  • Programming tools for diverse IoT applications
  • Verification and validation methodologies
  • Prototypes, debugging
  • Distribution and auto-localisation
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning in WSNs
  • WSN architecture
  • Wireless sensor network protocols
  • Wireless sensor network algorithms
  • Modelling and simulation
  • Communication in wireless sensor networks
  • Wireless sensor networks for industrial and other applications
  • Malware and attacked targets
  • Network traffic fingerprinting and attacks
  • Social networking forensics
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 May, 2017
Notification to authors: 30 August, 2017
Final versions due: 30 October, 2017

Special issue published: "Global Aviation Industry: Challenges and Opportunities"

International Journal of Aviation Management 3(2/3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 18th Air Transport Research Society World Conference (ATRS).
  • Aviation climate resilience: clarifying the impacts and identifying the barriers
  • Indebtedness and bankruptcy costs in the airline industry
  • Fifth freedom airline network expansion: the case of Emirates flying between Germany and the USA 
  • The effects of the airline strategic alliance group on member airlines' productivity during pre-mature stage
  • A Kano analysis on the adoption of self-service bag drops at Singapore Changi Airport
  • Allocating runway costs using a user-pay and average-cost approach: application to Taiwanese airports
  • A consideration on the impact of HSR on the aviation sector in view of the recent Japanese case
Additional paper
  • A strategy for alleviating aviation shortages through the recruitment of women

24 October 2016

Inderscience is media partner for Drug Discovery 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Drug Discovery 2017 (27-28 March 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation are now available here for free:
  • Factors fostering entrepreneurial universities to develop academic entrepreneurship activities: an assessment of European universities
  • Estimating the economic effects of university-industry collaboration
  • University-industry technology transfer: a systems approach with policy implications
  • Organising for knowledge and technology-related outcomes in industry-university relationships
  • The motivations of research teams and their cooperation with industry

Special issue published: "Vehicle Safety and Performance"

International Journal of Vehicle Performance 2(4) 2016
  • A hierarchical integrated chassis control strategy based on wheel force feedback
  • Cargo securement methods and vehicle braking performance
  • Analysis of the impact of a detached heavy trailer against a concrete median barrier
  • Multi-input multi-output intelligent modelling techniques and application to human driver
  • Coordinated control of active steering and active roll control systems for enhanced vehicle lateral dynamics

Call for papers: "Quality of Logistics Services and Countries’ Governance"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Business Performance and Supply Chain Modelling.

The objective of this special issue is to publish high-quality articles by leading experts on quality of logistics services and countries’ governance. Furthermore, the carefully selected articles, through rigorous double-blind refereeing, will help both domestic and international organisations to identify the challenges and opportunities they face for their performance in trade, logistics and supply chains, and what they can do to improve this performance.
 
Improving business performance and supply chain management is a cross-cutting and complex evolving agenda that is constantly changing with developments in technology, business processes and trade policies. We seek to explore cutting-edge methods in modelling, characterising and building high-quality logistics services and good governance.
 
The need to study and document the critical technical, security, legal, cultural and risk issues of logistics and supply chains confronting many countries is paramount in this highly competitive environment. The special issue will also serve as a platform to facilitate international research and industrial collaboration to examine the multifaceted topics related to governance and quality of logistics services.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
  • Theories and models that integrate quality logistics and supply chain governance
  • Conceptual frameworks for sustainable quality logistics and supply chains and governance
  • Empirical examinations of the role of quality logistics and supply chains and good governance
  • Interdisciplinary analyses of technical and cultural interactions in logistics and supply chains
  • Impact of trade agreements on quality logistics and strategic practices involving governance
  • Cross-country governance and quality of logistics and supply chain comparison
  • Transportation optimisation and global logistical networks
  • Enterprise resource planning and ERP for quality logistics and good governance
  • Governance of logistics network security; risk in a globalised supply network
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 March, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 June, 2017
Final versions due: 1 August, 2017

22 October 2016

Special issue published: "Digital Human Crowd Modelling and Simulation"

International Journal of the Digital Human 1(3) 2016
  • Crowd simulation: a video observation and agent-based modelling approach
  • Human crowd evacuation framework and analysis using look-ahead-based reinforcement learning algorithm
  • Elderly and fire safety: using serious games to elicit human behaviour in evacuation scenarios
  • Space time of crowd evacuation from a room with two exits
  • Simulation of herding behaviour in panic evacuation from a room with two exits
  • Merging the point clouds of the head and ear by using the iterative closest point method

21 October 2016

Inderscience is media partner for Innovation Excellence for Life Sciences 2016

Inderscience is a media partner for Innovation Excellence for Life Sciences (30 November - 1 December 2016, Boston, USA).

The journals involved are:
More information on this event is available here.




Special issue published: "Environmental Implications of Mining and Mineral Processing: Crucial Economic Development and Environmental Issues"

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 59(2/3/4) 2016
  • Heavy metal pollution and accumulation in maize grown in arable soils located near a lead and zinc slag heap in Yunnan, Southwest China
  • Ecosystem quality assessment of an aquatic habitat in a globally important boron reserve: Emet Stream Basin (Turkey)
  • Modelling of chemical grout column permeated by water in transparent soil
  • Mechanical properties and failure mechanism of cemented red clay under chemical erosion environment
  • Mitigating mine subsidence dynamically to minimise impacts on farmland and water resources: a case study
  • An experimental investigation on the permeability of chemically grouted sands and its application for mitigating underground sand and water inrushes
  • Image processing for erosion control of open-pit mines
  • The simulation of mine solid waste generation in Panzhihua City based on system dynamics
  • CFD modelling of dust dispersion in a room-and-pillar mining area
  • Safety and environmental implications of coal mining
  • Solidification characteristics and mechanisms of cement treated Pb/Zn contaminated soils from a mining site in Hunan Province, China
  • Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of landslide caused by underground mining subsidence and its monitoring

Inderscience is media partner for RNA Therapeutics 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for RNA Therapeutics (22-23 February 2017, London, UK).


Special issue published: "Fostering Asian Growth: Reforming Institutions for Better Service Provisions in Asia"

Journal for Global Business Advancement 9(4) 2016
  • Deregulation and liberalisation, business cycles and performance of Indian industry
  • Hierarchical model of service quality and its effect on consumers' perceived image, satisfaction and behavioural intentions: a study of Bangkok's mass rapid transit systems, Thailand
  • Determinants of the channel selection and choice intention: a marketing perspective
  • Importance of product quality and service quality in developing brand equity
  • On the impact of ISO 9000 certification on organisations: a comparative study
Additional paper
  • Organisational tenure and bank diversification: a replication

20 October 2016

Call for papers: "Problematising Freedom of Movement in the ASEAN Region"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies.

This special issue is proposed to discuss the region’s governance crisis in migration policy within the ASEAN region. The contributions will explore different manifestations of the crisis migration policy governance in the region, including human trafficking, regional integration and migration policy and the securitisation of labour migrants and inter-regional dynamics between ASEAN region states.
Content will be relevant to academics and students interested in migration and more generally the ‘politics of migration’ in Southeast Asia and more generally to migration policy practitioners in regional and global NGO and IGO communities.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
  • Issues related to freedom of movement in the ASEAN region
  • Anti-trafficking agendas in ASEAN region
  • ASEAN's role in developing anti-trafficking agendas
  • Securitisation of economic migrants in Southeast Asia
  • Inter-regional dynamics between ASEAN-region states and Australia on migration issues
  • ASEAN's role in developing regional frameworks for migration governance
  • Regional integration and migration policy

Important Dates
Manuscripts due by: 1 April, 2018

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance are now available here for free:
  • Testing vs. building accounting theory with experimental research: insights from management research
  • Overconfidence and stock returns: a behavioural perspective
  • Comprehensive income information: a user's perspective
  • Credit cards, financial responsibility, and college students: an experimental study

Call for papers: "Big Data and Social Computing Analytics"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Social Computing and Cyber-Physical Systems.

There is a huge amount of data generated in social computing and it contains various types of data. The huge data size, variety, velocity, accuracy and high dimensionality of data present new challenges including noise, privacy, scalability, correlation, incidental endogeneity and measurement errors. This big social data has evolved as a most challenging field of study and research area. It has drawn much attention during the last few years and influences our modern society business, government, healthcare and research in almost every discipline.
 
Existing approaches to big social data analysis mainly rely on parts of text in which sentiment is explicitly expressed. The social media feeds, blogs, emails, forums, survey, corporate documents, news, and call centre logs are textual data to be analysed. In last decade, social media has emerged as an area of scientific analysis. The sentiment analysis is a new type of text analysis technique to determining the opinion and subjectivity of reviewers. However, opinions and sentiments are often conveyed implicitly through latent semantics, which makes a purely syntactical approaches ineffective.
 
We will focus on the mathematical aspects, modelling, storage management, computing, and applications of novel techniques that further develop and apply effective social computing tools and techniques for big social data analysis. A key motivation for this special issue, in particular, is to explore the adoption of novel effective big social data computing frameworks and machine learning systems to go beyond a mere word-level analysis of structured, semi- structured and unstructured data, in potentially any domain.
 
We aim to provide a leading opportunity for researchers, academicians, professionals and developers from different background areas to exchange the latest research ideas and synergic research and development on fundamental issues and applications about big data and social computing analysis.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
  • Mathematical aspects and applications of big data and social computing
  • Big data in social computing
  • Social network modeling and analysis
  • Social media representation and retrieval
  • High performance computing in big data and social computing
  • Intelligent social media
  • Implementing big data architectures
  • Big data analytics and storage
  • Data mining and knowledge discovery
  • Data mining in healthcare
  • Support vector machines
  • Web-usage mining, and text and image recognition to prominent applications
  • Big data programming models and platforms: MapReduce or spark for big data
  • Social computing for mobile big data
  • Pattern recognition and image processing
  • Machine learning
  • Sentiment analysis
  • Social cloud computing
  • Security and privacy in big data
  • Data visualization
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 1 January, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 February, 2017
Final versions due: 1 March, 2017

The smart wheelchair

A wheelchair controller that automatically avoids obstacles and knows when the user is tired or stressed is being developed by researchers in India. Details are described in the International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation.

Naveen Kumar Malik of the Department of Electronics and Communication at Maharishi Dayanand University, in Haryana and V.R. Singh of the National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi, India, explain how they are developing a wheelchair navigation system that incorporates enhanced safety features and warning systems to assist users more effectively than any conventional powered wheelchair. The microcontroller is programmed with an algorithm that has six levels of testing surroundings and the user’s voice to make the wheelchair “smart”, creating what the team describes as a cognitive wheelchair navigation system.

The system circumvents several of the problems facing users and carers where conventional unpowered or powered wheelchairs are being used, especially by weaker users or users with cognitive impairment. The new microcontroller system endows the smart wheelchair with a collision avoidance and warning system, a system to discern emotional distress or drowsiness in the user and provide a warning of possible problems that might arise in such situations to the user or carer. The smart wheelchair could also monitor user’s heart rate, temperature or other vital signs for diagnostic purposes.

The team has now built and demonstrated a prototype of their smart wheelchair controller and hopes to commercialise the system. “The commercial version of the prototyped autonomous wheelchair would reduce the burden on care-giving staff in healthcare industry and improve the quality of life for disabled persons,” they conclude.


Malik, N.K. and Singh, V.R. (2016) ‘A human inspired cognitive wheelchair navigation system’, Int. J. Human Factors Modelling and Simulation, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp.263–284

via Inderscience – Science Spot http://ift.tt/2eawUzi

19 October 2016

Inderscience is media partner for Asia Institutional Investment Summit 2016

Inderscience is a media partner for Asia Institutional Investment Summit 2016 (17-18 November 2016, Beijinig, China).

The journals involved are:

Inderscience is media partner for Heavy Duty Week 2016

Inderscience is a media partner for Heavy Duty Week (15-18 November 2016, Shanghai, China).

The journals involved are:

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Governance and Financial Intermediation

The International Journal of Governance and Financial Intermediation provides an international forum, especially for empirical papers, on corporate governance and equity ownership structure, financial institutions and financial intermediation, corporate finance, financial markets, strategic finance and other issues related to governance and financial intermediation. The journal focuses on issues of banking, finance and governance (macro and micro level) with particular emphasis on emerging markets, more specifically on the role of financial intermediary institutions as well as corporate governance and finance in institutional (macro level governance) and economic development.

Inderscience is media partner for 6th China International Nutraceutical and Functional Food Summit

Inderscience is a media partner for the 6th China International Nutraceutical and Functional Food Summit 2016 (15-17 November 2016, Beijing, China).

The journals involved are:



18 October 2016

Call for papers: "New Trends in Many-Objective Optimisation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation.

The optimisation problems with only one, two/three, and more than three objectives are called single-objective, multi-objective, and many-objective optimisation (MOO), respectively. Because MOO is much closer to real life, it has attracted more and more attention. During recent decades, although many methods have been proposed and successfully applied to cope with single and multi-objective optimisation problems, MOO problems have not been fully addressed. Especially, the performance of most existing algorithms seriously degrades when dealing with MOO problems. However, MOO problems are widely seen in the real-world and therefore efficient solutions to them are of great practical relevance.
 
The MOO is indeed a topic of interest amongst researchers in various fields of science and engineering as well as commence. The challenge to the existing solutions to MOO problems is how to strike a good balance between convergence (accuracy) and coverage (distribution/diversity). In addition, existing performance indicators for multi-objective optimisation may become incapable of accurately assessing and comparing the quality of solution sets for MOO problems with four or more objectives. Finally, visualisation of the solutions of MOO problems also becomes a grand challenge.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Improvements of traditional metaheuristics to solve MOO problems (e.g. genetic algorithms, genetic programming, evolutionary strategies, evolutionary programming, ant colony optimisation and particle swarm optimisation, monarch butterfly optimisation, earthworm optimisation algorithm, elephant herding optimisation, NSGA-II, MOEA/D, and MOPSO)
  • Recent development of novel MOO algorithms (e.g. NSGA-III, HypE, and SPEA2)
  • Reproduction operators of MOO algorithms
  • Performance indicators of MOO algorithms
  • Visualization techniques for MOO
  • Preference-based many-objective optimisation
  • Objective reduction
  • New fitness assignment schemes and pareto dominance relationship
  • New diversity preservation methods
  • Large scale many-objective optimisation
  • Theoretical study on MOO algorithms using various techniques (e.g. rough set, Markov chain, dynamic system, complex system/networks, and martingale)
  • Application of MOO algorithms (e.g. planning and scheduling and other combinatorial problems, data mining and machine learning, reliability, task assignment problem, IIR filter design, optimisation under dynamic and uncertain environments)
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 1 May, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 July, 2017
Final versions due: 1 October, 2017


Social media is all about the user

It is important for organisations to be recognisable on social media, creative with content and loyal to active fans, so says new research published in the International Journal of the Business Environment.

Christine Moser of the Department of Organisation Sciences at VU University and Anouk van Eijkeren of Social Inc, both in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, suggest that user-generated content influences the interactions between customers and organisations on social media, specifically the enormously popular and well-known social networking site Facebook. They have examined seven independent determinants of online interaction, standard metrics in existing perspectives on this kind of research. These are: content type, information richness, message direction, content valence, type of message, message length, and the use of punctuation marks. Fundamentally, there is interplay between all factors, however, the team has teased out a solid conclusion from their analysis.

“The user-generated posts that triggered the most interactions typically included content that is visual, personal, and attractive,” they found. “The findings furthermore indicate that it is important for organisations to be recognisable on social media, creative with content and loyal to active fans. Moreover, this paper shows that organisations should not use Facebook as a marketing tool, but as an engagement-building communication tool.”

Simplistically, the only interaction between organization and customer on the original commercial side of the web was the sale. With the advent of Web 2.0 more than a decade ago there was a transition from this essentially static commercial web that simply presented goods and services to the fully engaged world of commenting, microblogs, review sites and ubiquitous social media tools. Customers the world over now expect the organization they buy from or otherwise use to have an active presence on these systems. Moreover, they expect them to respond almost instantaneously to interactions both positive and negative whether a customer posts a five-star review or makes a serious complaint.

It has taken a long time for this to become the norm and yet many organizations have not adopted the social stance quite as fully as others. The team suggests that their work indicates that providing information and just being present on social media is not enough to stimulate customer interactions in modern commerce. “Organisations should transfer their focus from being informative and marketing-oriented, to being communicative and relation-oriented,” they conclude.


Moser, C. and van Eijkeren, A. (2016) ‘User-generated content? Get serious! Understanding the interactions between organisations and customers on social media’, Int. J. Business Environment, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.284–306.

via Inderscience – Science Spot http://ift.tt/2eejbFy

Inderscience is media partner for 3D Cell Culture 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for 3D Cell Culture (22-23 February 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

Call for papers: "Vehicle Ergonomics"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Vehicle Performance.

Considerable developments in various active safety control systems for vehicles have contributed to reducing the driving demands imposed on the human driver whilst ensuring driver safety. The ergonomic design aspects of vehicles are also being increasingly emphasised to enhance ease and comfort of driving by facilitating driver-vehicle interactions that determine the vehicle performance. These include the interior design to adapt to human anthropometric dimensions, driver and passenger posture, the perception of comfort and accommodation, noise and vibration, and more. Considerable challenges, however, exist in integrating the cognition and neuro-muscular capacity and limitations of the human driver occupants in design process owing to wide variations in the physical, physiological and psychological features of the human. Ergonomics, therefore, plays an important role during the design and developing a vehicle.

The objective of this special issue is to compile recent research and development efforts in the field of vehicle ergonomics including: user perceptions in seating/workstation design, vehicle interior, and the layout of controls, user friendliness of conventional and autonomous vehicles, noise and vibration, the state of the art in the associated supporting technologies, as well as perspectives on future developments and applications. We will follow an overarching theme integrating the fundamental and applied research efforts on ergonomic design features affecting comfort and safety of the driver and the passenger derived from experimental, simulations and subjective methods.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Anthropometric considerations in workplace design and layout of controls
  • Anthropometry and postural requirements of vehicle drivers
  • Vehicle occupant posture and vehicle interior design
  • Egress and ingress of drivers and passengers
  • Driver-vehicle interactions
  • Vibration exposure of the driver and passenger and ride comfort
  • Ergonomic designs for enhanced driver performance
  • Work related musculoskeletal disorders among drivers
  • Vehicle design considering age related disabilities
  • Sleep deprivation of driver and fatigue
  • Driver's distractions
  • Ergonomic interventions for risk control

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 April, 2017

17 October 2016

Special issue published: "Operations Research Methods for Decision Support"

International Journal of Mathematics in Operational Research 9(4) 2016
  • Incomplete preference matrix on Alo-group and its application to ranking of alternatives
  • Probabilities of fuzzy events and their use in decision matrices
  • Feature-wise differential evolution classifier with an OWA-based multi-distance aggregation
  • EOQ model with linear time dependent demand and different holding cost functions
  • Patent-related decision-making with fuzzy real option analysis
  • Two-step method for multiple criteria investment decision making: mutual funds selection using FuzzME software
  • Human resources management at universities - a fuzzy classification approach
  • Optimal consistent approximation of a preference matrix in decision making

Special issue published: "Global Warming and its Energy Solutions"

International Journal of Global Warming 10(4) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the Global Conference on Global Warming 2014 (GCGW 2014).
  • Comparative exergo-environmental assessments of solar-based hydrogen production systems
  • A power generation system based on ferriferous oxide magnetic fluid
  • A numerical investigation on how to efficiently utilise carbon dioxide in convection-based energy systems
  • Methane production from napier grass by two-stage anaerobic digestion
  • Assessing the potential impact of future precipitation trends on urban drainage systems under multiple climate change scenarios
  • Functional and non functional particulate hydrocarbons in urban, rural and forest atmospheres of Northern Algeria
  • Causes of global climate change
  • The impacts of vehicle development on Beijing's climate change and relevant countermeasures 
  • Impact of global warming on thermal performance of domestic buildings using probabilistic climate data 

Special issue published: "Current Challenges and Future Prospects for Shipping Markets and Ports"

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management 6(3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the European Conference on Shipping, Intermodalism and Ports (ECONSHIP 2015).
  • The demand and supply of trans-oceanic sea routes: the case of East Asia-US east coast container trade
  • Representing shipowners: explaining strategic interactions with the media
  • A career in shipping? Image and background factors as predictors
  • Cruise ship cost analysis: an AHP study on cost components
  • Testing a speculative bubble in the dry bulk shipping market: a multi-factor approach
  • Socio-economic valuation of traffic in inland ports: the development of a weighing rule for the port of Brussels
  • An approach to traffic modelling at seaport automobile terminals: the case of the Port of Bar

Research Picks Extra – October 2016

Quality food
A clearer understanding of the relationship between food quality and food safety is important to consumers the world over. But, of course, the details of this relationship are particularly poignant for urban consumers with almost unlimited choice of range of food and sources in the shops and markets. Researchers in Slovenia have laid the foundations, through a statistical study of local urbanites to find the right questions to ask in future research in value chain management and related areas of business research. Such work would ultimately have the goal of motivating consumers and nudging the industry towards better nutritional quality
Vukasovic, T. (2015) ‘Food quality and safety: added value in a customer-oriented concept‘, Int. J. Value Chain Management, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp.241-254.

African automobiles
Since the end of the twentieth century, the sub-Saharan African automobile industry has expanded rapidly, as have other areas of industry and commerce. Researchers at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, explain how the expansion of the middle class has led to a massive uplift in demand for vehicles, albeit from a very pedestrian base. Nevertheless, manufacturing is still rather limited and supply does not keep pace with demand. They suggest that the political stance across SSA and not just in the larger countries such as Kenya and Nigeria needs to embed investment and policy strategies to encourage growth and development.
Black, A. and McLennan, T. (2016) ‘The last frontier: prospects and policies for the automotive industry in Africa‘, Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 16, No. 2, pp.193-220.

Mind control for robot hands
An interface that takes brain activity signals recorded using an electroencephalogram (EEG) and converts them into control commands for a robotic hand has been developed by researchers in India. The technology can control all five digits of the hand and could have applications in the design and development of prosthetic hands and for new ways to circumvent paralysis. It could also find application human-controlled robotics where health and safety precludes direct human touch but where a subtle grip is needed. The next step will be to optimise the hand’s response and to give the user control of each digit of the hand independently of the others.
Sandesh, R.S. and Venkatesan, N. (2016) ‘LabVIEW-based design and control of five-digit anthropomorphic robotic hand using EEG signals‘, Int. J. Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp.258-271.

Going batty in the clouds
A fuzzy logic algorithm based on the hunting flight path of a virtual bat could help improve cloud computing services, according to researchers in China. As the complexity of user demands increase, the pressure is own cloud service providers to maintain and even improve quality of service under increasing pressure without accruing additional computational costs. Cloud Service Composition is one way to address the issue of resources. Complexity and scale make the problem CSC a so-called “NP hard” problem, which can be addressed by using fuzzy logic and a naturalistic algorithm in this way.
Xu, B. and Sun, Z. (2016) ‘A fuzzy operator based bat algorithm for cloud service composition‘, Int. J. Wireless and Mobile Computing, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp.42-46.


via Inderscience – Science Spot http://ift.tt/2efkHIV

15 October 2016

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Best Paper Award winners available for free

The following sample articles, which represent the two winners and three runners-up of IJHFE's inaugural Best Papers Award, are now available here for free:
  • Attitudinal predictors of relative reliance on human vs. automated advisors
  • Lean implementation at different levels in Swedish hospitals: the importance for working conditions and stress
  • Auditory forward collision warnings reduce crashes associated with task-induced fatigue in young and older drivers
  • Using the situation present assessment method to measure situation awareness in simulated submarine track management
  • New organisational issues and macroergonomics: integrating management systems
  • Hazard perception in older drivers
  • Improving the visibility of bicycle infrastructure
  • Ergonomics development needs in truck body design – from video analyses to solution proposals

14 October 2016

Call for papers: "Quantitative Energy Finance Applied to Environmental and Climate Problems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Global Energy Issues.

This special issue aims to provide academics, policymakers and practitioners with valuable research results and analysis pertaining to the major issues and challenges that interrelate quantitative energy finance applied to environmental, climatic and energetic transition and renewable energy.
 
Contributions will be selected through a refereeing process consistent with the standard reviewing process of the journal, to ensure that only original contributions of the highest quality are included. Applied theoretical, analytical contributions and operational applications are expected to provide a wide scope of topics for the issue.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Quantitative energy finance
  • Mathematical modeling of the energy market
  • Energy and climate models
  • Energy and the environment
  • Energy prices: modeling and forecasting
  • Energy derivatives: pricing and hedging
  • Environmental economics
  • Energetic transition
  • Renewable energy
  • Corporate finance analysis for energy companies
  • Econometrics of energy markets
  • Energy and financial market interactions
  • Energy issues in developing and emerging markets
  • Energy policies for low carbon transportation
  • Financial and economic analysis of energy markets
  • Oil and shale gas
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 June, 2017
Notification to authors: 30 September, 2017
Final versions due: 10 December, 2017

Special issue published: "Governance and Public Sector Reforms: Trends, Possibilities and Caveats"

International Journal of Public Policy 12(3/4/5/6) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the XXII Days of Slovenian Public Administration.
  • From rational to more rational standards of proof
  • Reforming public administration in Slovenia: between theory and practice of good governance and good administration
  • Conducting procedures in administrative matters in reasonable time - analysis of selected case law by the European Court of Human Rights versus Slovenia 
  • Post assessment of the Slovenian tax legislation within RIA as tool of the tax policy
  • Public cost and management accounting system implementation and performance: an integrative approach
  • The level of fiscal transparency and accountability of budget users - evidence from Macedonia
  • Efficiency of Italian universities: the effect of controllable and non-controllable environmental and operational variables
  • Social impact bonds: a new tool for governance of social programs - evidence from the UK, USA and Australia
  • Building innovative public institution 
  • Public policy, bureaucracy and prejudices: evidence of prevalence of biased attitudes among bureaucrats
  • Organisational learning through public-private partnerships: a human resource management perspective
  • Issues and challenges of public service procurement in China: a collaborative governance perspective
  • Good governance: a new perspective for institutional reform - a comparative view of water, education and health institutions in Egypt
  • Cyclicality of public investment in Africa

Call for papers: "Structural Repair and Rehabilitation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Forensic Engineering.

Structural engineering experts in the strengthening and repair of structures need to have a comprehensive knowledge over a set of issues: the materials used; the geometric properties of the structures; the available surveying techniques for determining the physical and mechanical properties of the materials; the behaviour of the structural elements and the types of validated strengthening and repair techniques available for the different types of constructions.

This special issue is an opportunity for authors to share their achievements in several topics of this research area, mainly focused on structural materials, products, structure or component behaviour and analysis, structural damage, methodologies for the assessment, and solutions for repair and retrofitting of structures.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the XII International Conference on Structural Repair and Rehabilitation (2016 CINPAR), 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:
  • Analysis of structural defects
  • Structural materials
  • Design procedures
  • Case studies
  • Historical constructions
  • Assessment methodologies
  • Repair and retrofitting strategies

Important Dates
Submission of Manuscripts: 31 January, 2017
Notification to Authors: 31 March, 2017
Final Versions Due: 31 May, 2017

Special issue published: "Creative Research for Education and Technology"

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning 11(2/3) 2016
  • Investigating the discourse of ICT-mediated instruction: creative research to the use and effectiveness of ICT tools in primary English
  • Development of STEAM education program on climate change for science club activities
  • Integrating a web-based platform to promote creativity and authenticity in language classrooms
  • Implications for smart learning in English education in South Korea by comparison of mobile device usage in 2008 and 2014
  • Effect of web-based science journal writing on the science-related affective domain of sixth grade students in Korea
  • A study on problem-solving writing instruction model with the use of big data
  • Integrating technology to facilitate critical reflection and creativity in pre-service teacher development
  • An innovative approach to official development assistance to ICT for education in Bangladesh
  • Critical review and creative suggestions for the native English speaking teacher policy in South Korea
  • Perspective taking encourages cleaning task performance: a child-robot interaction

13 October 2016

Call for papers: "Collaborative Innovation Networks"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

This special issue welcomes researchers in the fields of management science, computer science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, design and arts to discuss how the diffusion of collaborative
 
Collaborative innovation networks (COINs) have been defined by Gloor (2006) as teams of self-motivated people with a collective vision. They are enabled by technology to collaborate, challenge the status-quo and innovate by sharing ideas, information, resources and work. Since then, several empirical evidences have supported the validity of this concept (Zylka et al., 2016).
 
Collaborative innovation networks are a key component of R&D efforts, as they provide access to knowledge and expertise that can support the open innovation model. Identifying COINs supports the development of start-up or spinoff opportunities as they organically emerge within organisations. What can we learn from the development of successful COINs? How can collaborative networks between SMEs and/or research centres be optimised to foster the firm’s performance? What can we learn in terms of creativity and problem solving by looking at the dynamic evolution of COINs? What are the benefits of being embedded in a COIN when designing and executing R&D activities? How can collaborative innovation networks promote the launch of start-up’s and spinoffs? We invite papers that address these and similar questions to describe the mechanisms behind successful COINs.
 
We invite contributions that shed light on the mechanisms and processes enabling collaborative innovation networks to be effective and to create positive change for individuals and organisations. We invite papers that advance the understanding of the mechanisms facilitating collaboration in a networked global environment, as well as new methods to detect and promote innovation within, and across, organisational boundaries (Dana et al., 2008; Wright and Dana, 2003).
 
We are also interested in exploring the advantages of collaboration for start-ups firms (Allen et al., 2016), as well as the distinctive individual characteristics and the network roles/positions of entrepreneurs (Battistoni and Fronzetti Colladon, 2014; Gloor et al., 2011; Gloor et al., 2016). Some of the questions that we are interested in exploring are: what are the leadership and communication styles of successful entrepreneurs and what are their effects on COINs? Does the presence of COINs support employees’ retention and commitment?
 
Finally, we invite papers that present and discuss case studies on the application of methods to measure, assess and improve collaboration and innovation, at the individual, team and firm level (Allen et al., 2016; Etemad et al., 2001), using innovative technologies or original communication styles, such as the pattern languages (Iba, 2014).
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Networks and collaboration in a global context: Optimisation through collaboration, teamwork through virtually enhanced collaboration, measuring the performance of collaborative innovation networks, SMEs and startup networks, knowledge and information flows in collaborative teams, diversity in COINs
  • The role of the entrepreneur: Social network positions of entrepreneurs, distinctive individual traits and the effects they produce in collaborative innovation networks, collaborative leadership and employee's engagement
  • Tools and methods: social system design, social network analysis, semantic social network analysis, actor network theory, pattern languages
We encourage scholars to submit contributes that can enhance the understanding of these subjects, providing both relevant theoretical and practical advancements.
 
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 February, 2017
Notification to authors: 27 March, 2017
Final versions due: 15 May, 2017
 

References:
Allen, T.J., Gloor, P.A., Fronzetti Colladon, A., Woerner, S.L. and Raz, O. (2016) ‘The power of reciprocal knowledge sharing relationships for startup success’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 636–651. doi: 10.1108/jsbed-08-2015-0110.
Battistoni, E. and Fronzetti Colladon, A. (2014) ‘Personality correlates of key roles in informal advice networks’, Learning and Individual Differences, Vol. 34, pp. 63–69. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2014.05.007.
Dana, L.P., Etemad, H. and Wright, R.W. (2008) ‘Toward a paradigm of symbiotic entrepreneurship’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 109 -126. doi: 10.1504/ijesb.2008.016587.
Etemad, H., Wright, R.W. and Dana, L.P. (2001) ‘Symbiotic international business networks: Collaboration between small and large firms’, Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 481–499. doi: 10.1002/tie.1009.
Gloor, P.A. (2006) Swarm creativity. Oxford University Press.
Gloor, P.A., Fischbach, K., Fuehres, H., Lassenius, C., Niinimäki, T., Olguin, D.O., Pentland, S., Piri, A. and Putzke, J. (2011) ‘Towards “Honest Signals” of creativity – identifying personality characteristics through microscopic social network analysis’, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 26, pp. 166–179. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.573.
Gloor, P. A., Woerner, S. L., Schoder, D., Fischbach, K. and Fronzetti Colladon, A. (2016) ‘Size Does Not Matter – In the Virtual World. Comparing Online Social Networking Behavior with Business Success of Entrepreneurs’, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, in press.
Iba, T. (2014). Collaboration Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Collaborations. CreativeShift, Yokohama, Japan.
Shimomukai, E., Nakamura, S., and Iba, T. (2012) ‘Change making patterns: a pattern language for fostering social entrepreneurship’. Paper presented at the 19th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP 2012). 19-21 October 2012. Tucson, Arizona.
Wright, R. W. and Dana, L. P. (2003) ‘Changing Paradigms of International Entrepreneurship Strategy’, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Vol. 1 No. 1 , pp. 135–152. doi: 10.1023/A:1023384808859
Zylka, M., Führes, H., Fronzetti Colladon, A. and Gloor, P. A. (Eds.), (2016) Designing Networks for Innovation and Improvisation. Proceedings of the 6th International COINs Conference. Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42697-6

Special issue published: "Public Sector Financial Management: Innovations, Achievements, Challenges and Prospects"

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management 2(4) 2016
  • Financial management of public services in a hybrid organisation: a learning approach in inter-organisational settings
  • Changing performance measurement towards enhanced accountability: insights from the British Museum
  • Deficit control and fiscal austerity in the EU: time to consider the local impact
  • Management of financial resources in municipalities - the significance of size and alternative regulatory responses to a financial crisis
  • A missing link between citizen participation, satisfaction, and public performance: evidences from the city and county of San Francisco
  • Performance management in Sierra Leone public sector organisations

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics announces Best Paper awards

The International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics is instigating a Best Papers award. The first two winners have been announced: Scialfa et al. (2012), Hazard perception in older drivers, is awarded the 2012-2013 Best IJHFE Paper award and Baldwin, May & Parasuraman (2014), Auditory forward collision warnings reduce crashes associated with task-induced fatigue in young and older drivers, is awarded the 2014-2015 Best IJHFE Paper award. Both papers and the three runners-up are now freely available as part of the journal's sample issue, http://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/sample.php?jcode=ijhfe.

Special issue published: "New Developments in PROMETHEE Methods"

International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 6(3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the Second International Workshop on PROMETHEE.
  • FlowSort parameters elicitation based on categorisation examples
  • The multi-actor multi-criteria analysis in action for sustainable urban mobility decisions: the case of Leuven
  • SMAA-GAIA: a complementary tool of the SMAA-PROMETHEE method
  • An integrated hybrid multi-criteria decision making technique for material selection in the sugar industry

12 October 2016

Special issue published: "Digital Human Modelling in Virtual Worlds"

International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 5(3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 3rd International Digital Human Modeling Symposium (DHM2014).
  • Experimental assessment of the quality of ergonomic indicators for dynamic systems computed using a digital human model
  • Generation and evaluation of distributed cases by clustering of diverse anthropometric data
  • A measurement setup for the 3D validation of fingertip deformation models
  • Human simulation for task-based survivability analysis
Additional paper
  • A human inspired cognitive wheelchair navigation system

Special issue published: "Sustainable Business Development in India"

International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking 6(4) 2016
  • Environment sound technologies: exploring and modelling barriers using modified UTAUT model
  • Sustainable consumption and production: need, challenges and further research directions
  • The importance of innovation leadership in cultivating sustainable supply chain management and enhancing organisation performance
  • Knowledge management in Indian SMEs: tool for sustainability
  • Evaluating the status of dynamic capabilities and flexibility at strategic level in Indian manufacturing industry
  • Strategic process optimisation for tribological behaviour of silica gel reinforced aluminium composite material by neuro-grey modelling

11 October 2016

Special issue published: "The Challenge of Islamic Economics"

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education 7(3) 2016
  • Benchmarking objectives of Shari'ah (Islamic law): index and its performance in select OIC countries
  • Ethical values in conventional and Islamic finance with reference to recent financial crises
  • Wages in an Islamic economy: a literature survey
  • Intention to use the Islamic micro-investment model in Nigeria: empirical evidence
Pluralism in Economics
  • Missing bridges: a pluralist analysis of the debate on Capital in the Twenty-First Century
The Teaching Commons
  • Taking economics out of the classroom: a field assignment

Call for papers: "Applied Soft Computing Strategies for Effective Business Data Analytics"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining.

Applications of soft computing in the field of analytics are becoming increasingly important, e.g. for fully automated systems that help in accurate identification of abnormalities or support good management among systems.

During the previous decade, soft computing has emerged as a potential candidate for solving complex and intricate global optimisation problems which would otherwise be difficult to solve by traditional methods. Currently, image processing, signal processing, industrial optimisation, control system applications and power system application fields have challenging needs which are to be unraveled by researchers.

Some popular soft computing techniques for machine learning and global optimisation include artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms (GA), differential evolution (DE), ant colony optimisation (ACO), particle swarm optimisation (PSO), artificial bee colony (ABC), firefly algorithm (FFA) algorithm etc., these methods that have been successfully applied to a wide range of benchmark and real-world application problems.

This special issue is an ideal platform for researchers to come up with innovative ideas and approaches in the area of data mining using these applied soft computing strategies. This issue gains much importance since it directly impacts business analytics.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Fuzzy c-means algorithm
  • Optimised problem definition
  • Machine learning based system design
  • Optimised modelling for analytic tools
  • Intelligent and automation in soft computing for data mining
  • Artificial neural network operation for non-linear data approximation
  • Evolutionary approach
  • Multivariate data manipulation
  • Solving uncertainty nature
  • Lagrangian differentiation
  • Multi dimension data analytics
  • Multi point business analytics for scattered data
  • K- means analytics
  • Big data analytics for multi dimension data, etc.

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 May, 2017

Using chaos and confusion to hide medical photos

Chaos and confusion could be used to encrypt colour photos and protect them from prying eyes, according to computer scientists in Algeria. Writing in the International Journal of Information and Computer Security, the team describe a new algorithm that generates pseudo-random sequences that change a plain image into a ciphered image in a single step leading to a file that cannot be cracked.

Assia Beloucif, Oussama Noui and Lemnouar Noui of the University of Batna, explain how increasing concerns about personal data and privacy, particularly in medicine and other sensitive areas mean there is a growing need for easy to implement but tough to crack encryption technology that can protect images, such as medical scans, business plans, even just family snapshots. There are already powerful encryption tools for converting text documents but these are not the best choice for colour photos because there is a strong correlation between the data in the original image and an encrypted one, particularly in terms of bulk data volume.

As such, the team explains encryption techniques that exploit confusion or diffusion can remove redundancies to reduce file sizes and spread pixel values so that it becomes more difficult to extract parts of the original image using data recovery and cracking tools. In addition, there is the potential of using chaos theory to further blur the correlation between original and encrypted image. Their algorithm uses a chain of “tweaks” that are spread randomly from pixel to pixel in the conversion by the encryption key. This approach, the team reports, beats other image encryption approaches in tests despite only requiring this single process to convert the original into an encrypted image.


Beloucif, A., Noui, O. and Noui, L. (2016) ‘Design of a tweakable image encryption algorithm using chaos-based schema‘, Int. J. Information and Computer Security, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.205-220.
via Inderscience – Science Spot http://ift.tt/2dhSlem

Inderscience is media partner for Future Armoured Vehicles Situational Awareness 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Future Armoured Vehicles Situational Awareness (29-30 March 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

New Editor for International Journal of Machine Intelligence and Sensory Signal Processing

Prof. Dianhui Wang from La Trobe University in Australia has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Machine Intelligence and Sensory Signal Processing.

10 October 2016

Special issue published: "Trends in Nanotechnology"

International Journal of Nanotechnology 13(8/9) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 16th “Trends in Nanotechnology” (TNT2015) International Conference.
  • Non-covalent functionalisation of carbon-based nanostructures and its application to carbon/epoxy composites
  • Development of aluminium matrix composites with non-agglomerated nanodiamond reinforcements
  • Contactless graphene conductance measurements: the effect of device fabrication on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy
  • Microrheology of viscoelastic solutions studied by magnetic rotational spectroscopy
  • Graphite-to-diamond (13C) direct transition in a diamond anvil high-pressure cell
  • Carbon nanotube net as a conductive and transparent film for solar energy conversion
  • Neutral and charged excitons in tungsten dichalcogenides monolayer
  • Preparation and characterisation of Pd nanoparticles doped UO2 samples
  • Evaluation of ultra-thin structures composed of graphene and high-k dielectrics for resistive switching memory applications
  • Thin films of organic dyes with silver nanoparticles: enhancement and spectral shifting of fluorescence due to excitation of localised surface plasmons
  • Magnetic nanocomposites based on mesoporous silica for biomedical applications
  • Internalisation of core-shell superparamagnetic nanoparticles into human granulocytes
  • On the existence of two states in liquid water: impact on biological and nanoscopic systems
  • Graphene monolayer produced on Pt reusable substrates for transparent conductive electrodes applications
  • Important impact of the experimental platform on the efficient control of electronic and vibrational properties of molecular junctions



Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Strategic Change Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Strategic Change Management are now available here for free:
  • Middle managers' knowledge of strategy: antecedents, cognitive accuracy and self-awareness
  • Collegiality as a strategy for excellence in academia
  • Strategic change and narrative turn perspectives in media texts: learning and coopetition in strategising
  • The competitiveness of Brazilian tourist destinations
  • Service orientation: changing in Tunisian industrial firms

Special issue published: "Public Space and Fundamental Rights"

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies 4(3) 2016
  • The concept of 'public space of fundamental rights' (public space and the exercise of fundamental rights)
  • Democratic citizenship and the limits to immigrants' multicultural exercise of fundamental rights in public spaces: the case of Spain
  • The concept of living together as a limit to freedom of religion or belief in ECtHR's S.A.S. v France
  • Regulatory powers on the 'physical' public space, in particular of the Spanish local authorities
Additional paper
  • Monetising constitutional rights: the award of damages in constitutional claims

Call for papers: "Challenges and Opportunities of Export Marketing in Emerging Economies"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Export Marketing.

The aim of this special issue is to include research based on MNEs or SMEs based on investigations on emerging markets i.e., export marketing. We also invite research on different issues based on investigations in emerging markets. In particular, research on family export businesses, emerging market MNEs and their exports, export barriers in emerging markets, export behaviour of SMEs in emerging markets, social media as a mechanism to stimulate exports in emerging markets, export performance and export sales management in emerging markets and country of origin of products in emerging markets are some of the subjects that are suggested.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2017 Annual Conference of Emerging Markets Conference Board (EMCB), 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:
  • Export marketing in emerging markets
  • Family export businesses in emerging countries
  • Emerging market multinationals and their exports
  • Export barriers in emerging markets
  • Export behaviour of SMEs in emerging markets
  • How do social media motivate SMEs in emerging markets to their export activities?
  • Export performance and export sales management in emerging markets
  • Country of origin of products in emerging markets

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 28 February, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 June, 2017
Final versions due: 31 August, 2017

8 October 2016

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity are now available here for free:
  • Calculation of the principal moment of inertia and Euler angles of the centre inertia principal axis system: design and implementation of the algorithm
  • Investigation on thermal reliability and optimisation design for high-power LED micro/nano system
  • Investigation on the rectangular packing problem based on the ant colony algorithm
  • The electronic, optical and magnetic properties of Fe doped ZnO and (Fe, Al) co-doped ZnO from first-principles calculations
  • Effect of substrate temperature on mechanical properties of SiCO thin film
  • A review on reliability of electronic packaging in micro/nano manufacturing
  • A review of materials science-based models for mixture design and permeability prediction of pervious concretes
  • Tailoring the orientation of fibres in high performance fibre reinforced cementitious composites: part 2 - correlation to mechanical properties and design implications
  • Tailoring the orientation of fibres in high performance fibre reinforced cementitious composites: part 1 - experimental evidence, monitoring and prediction
  • Semi-flowable self-consolidating concrete and its application
  • Use of biomineralisation in developing smart concrete inspired by nature
  • Pseudo-dynamic carbonation for concrete curing and carbon storage
  • Using X-ray transmission/attenuation to quantify fluid absorption in cracked concrete