Call for papers: "Applications of Metaheuristics and Simheuristics in solving Rich and Real-Life Problems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Metaheuristics.

The special issue aims to collect a number of high-quality articles that illustrate the applications of both metaheuristics, simheuristics (a combination of simulation with metaheuristics), and learnheuristics (a combination of metaheuristics with machine learning) for solving rich and real-life combinatorial optimisation problems in different fields, including: logistics and transportation, supply chain management, manufacturing and production, telecommunication systems, computer networks, economics and finance, health care, aeronautics, etc.

Real-life applications of metaheuristic algorithms are encouraged, as well as articles presenting methodological innovations that can be especially useful when dealing with real-life applications in any of the aforementioned fields.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2017 Metaheuristics International Conference (MIC 2017), 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:

• Metaheuristics
• Simheuristics (metaheuristics and simulation)
• Learnheuristics (metaheuristics and machine learning)
• Rich and real-life optimisation problems
• applications in logistics, transportation and supply chain management
• Applications in manufacturing and production
• Applications in computer and telecommunication Systems
• Applications in healthcare systems
• Applications in economics and finance
• Applications in aeronautics
• Methodological innovations

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 28 February, 2018
Notification to authors: 30 May, 2018
Final versions due: 30 December, 2018

Inderscience is media partner for Underwater Defence and Security 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Underwater Defence and Security (6-8 March 2017, Portsmouth, UK).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Intelligent Defence Support Systems
• Int. J. of Ocean Systems Management

More information on this event is available here.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology are now available here for free:

• A preliminary report on the formation of graphite from sub-bituminous coal during oxidation in H2O2/HCOOH: a new forecast
• A pattern-based approach to waterflood performance prediction using knowledge management tools and classical reservoir engineering forecasting methods
• Factors controlling production in hydraulically fractured low permeability oil reservoirs
• Application of type curves for pressure transient analysis of multiple fractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs
• A proposed 'standard' framework for conducting negative pressure test
• Impact of variables on efficiency of flue gas desulphurisation plant in Longannet Power Station (ScottishPower)
• Comparative studies of a bioethanol fuelled DI diesel engine with a cetane improver
• Modelling the relationship between carbon aromaticity of lignite pyrolysis chars and the process temperature with petrographic parameters
• Development of a single cylinder CNG direct injection engine and its performance, emissions and combustion characteristics
• Diamondoids: occurrence in fossil fuels, applications in petroleum exploration and fouling in petroleum production. A review paper
• Three-dimensional pore networks and transport properties of a shale gas formation determined from focused ion beam serial imaging

Special issue published: "Business Challenges in Emerging Markets"

Journal for Global Business Advancement 10(1) 2017

• Examining the relationships between service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions: a marketing study of Bangkok's metropolitan rapid transit system, Thailand
• Measuring brand equity of foreign fashion apparels in the Indian market
• Four decades of academic research on product diversification-performance relationship: analysis and foresight
• Additional papers
• The effects of HRM practices on organisational performance in Lebanese banks
• Joint ventures in the real estate sector: the critical factors to consider for success

A down to earth approach to understanding gravity

What more is there to say about gravity? Extensive astronomical observations by Galileo and Tycho Brahe laid the foundations for Kepler to formulate his laws of planetary motion and then for Newton to come up with his theory of gravity. In the twentieth century Einstein recognised that the universe is not a clockwork machine and that it has no fixed frame of reference, everything is relative. Then we had black holes, planetary precession, gravitational waves and the enigma that is sub-atomic quantum theory that we cannot yet square with the cosmic scale.

Now, H. Ron Harrison of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, at City University, London, hopes to simplify our understanding of gravity by going back to Newtonian theory extending it and embedding an understanding of Einstein’s special theory of relativity that takes relative velocity based on the form of the measured data into account. In this new simpler theory of gravity, which Harrison describes in the International Journal of Space Science and Engineering, he derives a single explanatory equation. “This equation expresses relative acceleration between two masses as a function of their masses, separation and, now, relative velocity,” Harrison explains.

This formula accounts for many of the gravitational phenomena we have observed through many decades if not centuries and offers a simpler explanation for the likes of the precession of the perihelion of Mercury, the gravitational deflection of light, the Shapiro time delay (an effect that retards the transmission of a signal passing close to a strong gravitational field), the Schwarzschild radius which accounts for escape velocity and why you cannot escape a black hole, and even gravitational waves.

Harrison suggests that his formula is less open to misinterpretation than those of Einstein. Moreover, he considers “force” to be a secondary property as was suggested by Hertz at the end of the nineteenth century. Force is the sleeping partner of gravitational formulae; it is to dynamics what money is to commerce. Tests on real observations corroborate this demotion of force and the replacement of Einsteinian complexity with a simpler set of equations. So, the Principle of Equivalence does not arise,” adds Harrison.

This new interpretation which does not undermine relativity even points to the possibility of the existence of a repulsive phenomenon one might refer to as anti-gravity. At a more immediately practical level, however, it should be possible to calculate non-Newtonian variations in the trajectories of satellites, for instance, using Harrison’s equations.

Harrison, H.R. (2016) ‘Post Newtonian gravity, a new simpler approach‘, Int. J. Space Science and Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.121-137.

Inderscience is media partner for Future Armoured Vehicles Central & Eastern Europe 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Future Armoured Vehicles Central & Eastern Europe (15-16 May 2017, Prague, Czech Republic).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Intelligent Defence Support Systems
• Int. J. of Sensor Networks
• Int. J. of Vehicle Design
• Int. J. of Vehicle Information and Communication Systems
• Int. J. of Vehicle Performance
• Int. J. of Vehicle Safety

More information on this event is available here.

Free sample articles newly available from Journal for Global Business Advancement

The following sample articles from the Journal for Global Business Advancement are now available here for free:

• A review on the state of methodological trends in international marketing literature
• Leadership style, decentralisation and managerial performance: Does the management accounting system mediate the relationship?
• Currency substitution and financial crisis: lesson from a southeast emerging market
• Did the corporate governance reform have effect on creative accounting practices in emerging economies? The case of Indonesian listed companies
• Managerial overconfidence and leverage decision. The moderating effect of human governance in Malaysia
• Investigating interpersonal trust determinants in Western companies' subsidiaries: empirical evidence
• Dynamic model of the technology spillover from foreign direct investment and productivity growth: a case from Thailand

First issue: International Journal of Business Intelligence and Systems Engineering (free sample issue available)

The International Journal of Business Intelligence and Systems Engineering focuses on business intelligence and decision support, together with system strategy, policy and application. It also covers production planning, scheduling and operation management along with advanced information systems, including theoretical foundations, infrastructure, architecture and algorithms. The journal proposes and fosters discussion on new system theory and information technology, including state-of-the-art research reports, important techniques and practical applications in emerging topics in the area.

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

Special issue published: "Social Networking for Enhanced Interaction with No Cyberbullying"

International Journal of Innovation in Education 3(2/3) 2016

• Effective innovation or dumbed-down distraction: qualitative content analysis of 10 years of social media and writing research
• Preservice teachers' uses of SMILE to enact student-generated questioning practices
• The design and development of an online tool to strategically support knowledge acquisition for improved educator practice
• Explorative thoughts on bringing together reflection and social networking
• Cultivating positive social interactions through a web-based cyberbullying prevention program
• Integrate social tagging to build an online collaborative learning community
• Threats through Facebook: a project with students in a German vocational school to foster 'Facebook competence'

Tools for science writing

Writing a scientific research paper is tough at the best of times regardless of funding conditions and political intervention. As such, a scientist will turn to any tool they might find to help with this generally arduous task. Writing in the International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, a Brazilian team has surveyed common tools and determined which tools have what useful features. Their summary points to the possibility of designing a new system for helping in the writing of scientific papers that has the pros of the best tools and none of the cons of the worst.

For Ralf Landim Reith, José Dutra de Oliveira Neto and Anderson de Andrade Santos of the University of São Paulo, as with most academic researchers, the scientific endeavour is a “publish or perish” environment. Researchers must maintain records of their hypotheses, experiments, results and their theories and interpretations. And periodically, they must pull this information together into a cogent, coherent and cohesive form that can be disseminated via conference poster, lecture and ultimately published paper. The ultimate aim to record the progress of their research endeavours so that they might be peer-reviewed and otherwise validated against other findings in their field.

There is also, of course, the business side of science. “The importance of scientific articles in the dissemination of research findings and results is unquestionable,” the team says. “Besides disseminating the findings, scientific papers play a key role in the distribution of funding and scholarships for research projects, where the number of publications is used as a quality index by various funding agencies.”

The team has investigated the benefits and limitations of software in terms of brainstorming, organisation of ideas, database of examples, schematic structure models, automatic identification of structure, automatic review of structure, indication of rhetorical strategies and the basis of writing standards. The tools include the likes of “Abstract Helper”, “AntMover”, “AMADEUS”, and “SciPo-Pharmacy”, indeed, most available tools are for abstracting rather than paper structure. Those that were useful for organising and brainstorming date back to the 1990s and are often incompatible with modern personal computers and so little used. Nevertheless, all the types of software assessed has had a place in the scientific writing process and features of even the most archaic and mundane might be useful in the modern context of the web, social media, digital journals and such.

The team points out that there is currently an almost complete lack of support for scientific writing, particularly in highly specialised areas such as production engineering. The study points to a significant gap in the “market” representing a need that might be fulfilled by a software company or the community itself with the requisite skills to create open source tools.


Reith, R.L., de Oliveira Neto, J.D. and de Andrade Santos, A. (2017) ‘Support tools to assist scientific writing: assessment of key features to construct a system for production engineering’, Int. J. Business Innovation and Research, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp.353-362.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications are now available here for free:

• Partial approximate gradient constellation for PAPR reduction in OFDM signals
• Stability criterion for networked control systems with additive time-varying state-delays and bounded nonlinearity
• Performance analysis of Gaussian approximation in wide band code division multiple access system over various fading channels
• Design of fractional model reference adaptive PID controller to magnetic levitation system with permagnet
• Performance comparison of underwater network size estimation techniques
• Design and implementation of new optimal linear actuator fault diagnosis observers

Call for papers: "Computational Analysis and Security"

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

This special issue addresses broad issues on computational analysis and security. The invaluable data, which the researcher across different domains generates through their research efforts, has great interdependence to deduce meaningful hypothesis which germinates new discoveries and creates innovative results. Computational models are often coupled with high-performance computing to solve complex physical problems arising in engineering analysis and design.

We aim to bring together research which presents recent advances and achievements addressing the challenges related to computational analysis and security. Additionally, we seek to provide academics, researchers, and practitioners with an opportunity to share their perspectives on the various aspects of data security research, industry best practices and pedagogical developments of interest within the information security field.

We encourage the submission of papers presenting novel research and development on technical related aspects on computational analysis and security. The papers may present new concepts and approaches related to analysis, systems providing practical implementations supporting such methods and approaches, and the integration and configuration of security services in information systems architectures. In addition, we are also interested in application papers discussing the applicability of these methods and techniques to real-world problems. Submissions of original and unpublished works are invited, including research, theory and applications.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2nd International Conference on Futuristic Trend in Computational Analysis and Knowledge Management (ABLAZ2017), 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:

• Encryption technique
• Vulnerability discovery modelling
• Malware techniques /malware analysis
• Kernel level attacks
• Cloud security
• Anti-spying and counter surveillance
• Security of smart appliances
• Network Security and privacy
• Honey pots
• Wireless and Bluetooth security
• Denial and un-provable attacks
• Cyber and digital forensic
• Spying and surveillance
• Internet security & VPN
• IPSec and TLS
• Infrastructure security
• Cyber law and intellectual property rights
• Big data and security
• Critical infrastructure and control system cyber security
• Attach surfaces

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 April, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 June, 2017
Final versions due: 1 July, 2017

Special issue published: "Political Systems: the Drivers of Tourism Policy"

International Journal of Tourism Policy 6(3/4) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Tourism (ICOT 2015).

• The ideologies of national security and tourist visa restrictions
• Using a political ecology approach for large scale regional tourism management
• Innovation practices in cultural organisations: implications for innovation policy
• Gaps identified in tourism-environment policy in Kenya: a content analysis to assess sustainable tourism policy in the country
• Dynamics of Spanish tourism policy: the political system as a driver and policy instruments as indicators of change (1952-2015)
• Implementing governance in tourism destinations: a methodological proposal
• Oil, centralised power and their shaping effects on tourism in Gabon
• Tourism development in China since 1949: a regime perspective
• Polity, policy and destination management: an exploratory study of political systems and management of tourism with special reference to the GCC countries

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Annual Formulation & Drug Delivery Congress

Inderscience is a media partner for 3rd Annual Formulation & Drug Delivery Congress (8-9 May 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Int. J. of Computational Biology and Drug Design

More information on this event is available here.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

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

• Evaluating post-acquisition technological performance by measuring absorption-related invention
• A two-stage process for explaining the relative efficiency of small and medium-size firms in Chile
• Emerging and deliberate product innovation strategies in SMEs: results from a longitudinal study
• The impact of innovation on growth and performance of processed food SMEs in Malaysia
• Assessing the effectiveness of business incubators in fostering SMEs: evidence from China
• Measuring entrepreneurship environments in Africa: challenges in using international reports
• Exploring business incubation practices and relationships to drivers of start-up success in Turkey

Call for papers: "Film and Contemporary Representations of the Exotic Other: Gazing Through Filmic Eyes"

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

We aim to interrogate the ways in which representations of the Other are manifested in contemporary ethnographic and ethnography aligned film. Noel Salazar’s advancement of the notion ‘tourism imaginaries’ is the scaffold that binds this special issue. In invoking the term exotic Other, we acknowledge that it is generally multivalent and demarcating it as one thing or another is naturally problematic. However, we consider the Other to comprise of subjects that are neither mainstream nor conventional and for the most part, made up of marginal groups and individuals in places ‘off the beaten track’.

Film subjects will inhabit peripheral places, occupy marginal existences, undertake alternative and precarious livelihoods or display distinct social and cultural mores that evoke perceptions of them as being ‘other worldly’, unique, unprecedented, alien or novel. What they have in common is that their existences intersect with tourism either directly or in other less obvious and direct ways, and their depiction occurs amidst the prevalence and rise of tourism.

Martin Butler and Bentley Dean’s (2015) film Tanna, underpins the lead article of this special issue. Set in the South Pacific nation Vanuatu, Tanna is a rendering of the Other and is typical of the types of examinations sought. In Tanna, Butler and Dean employ a hybrid ethnographic and documentary making approach that dramatises a true story, evoking the well-worn trope of love and loss and set within a traditional community context. Tanna occurs at a time when tourism is the island nation’s preeminent economic sector and the film is forecast to have implications for tourism and the way islanders and the country is perceived. Other films that align with this initiative include Jenny Chio’s ‘Peasant Family Happiness’, Ilia Kok’s ‘Framing the Other’ or Pegi Vail’s ‘Gringo Trails among others. Indeed, Denis O’Rourke’s ‘Cannibal Tours’ stands as a beacon underlining this special issue.

Marcus Banks’ (1992) framework that defines ethnographic films is used here as a guiding hand. Bank’s assertion is that ethnographic films are a form of social action filmmaking and must contain three central ideals:

1. Intention – desire to capture reality
2. Event – capture the phenomenon or event studied without intervention
3. Reaction – an idea about who the audience of the film might be and how this could elicit better understandings and be a force for change. 

Banks conception of ethnographic films provides a starting point for critical analysis and is extended to include dramatised accounts of distinctly ethnographically aligned material with the proviso that such films address his three markers. It is widely acknowledged that ethnographic films are not a filmic genre in their own right and although inhabiting particular traits, it is an expose of a people and the circumstances that underpin their ordinary existence.

Authors will draw from ethnographic films and those that employ ethnographic methods. It is also expected that authors will examine films that have been produced in the last decade (from 2005 onwards) to coincide with an unprecedented growth phase for international tourism. In these films, human subjects and their cultural landscapes must be central to the film’s narrative and their portrayal should raise questions about the wide-ranging implications that their exposure and link to tourism confers. Implications for film subjects and their cultural landscapes may relate to the binaries of empowerment or disempowerment, inclusion or alienation, enrichment or depletion and resilience or vulnerability, to name a few possibilities.

It is also expected that authors will contribute to the theoretical development of tourism anthropology and its intersection with contemporary film. Several key questions abound and authors should consider these in the construction of abstracts.

In what ways are Buchman, Moore and Fisher’s (2010) yearning for ‘authenticity and fellowship’ through films and its relation to tourism evident?

• Are there discernible links between film and the desire to visit the people, place and context featured (Rittichainuwat,and Rattanaphinanchai, 2015)?
• Is the intersection between film, tourism and ethnicity discernible and to what extent does the film’s narrative advance or negate the progression of central subjects and their related contexts (Adams, 2016)?
• To what extent are social justice and marginalisation concerns of the film’s central subjects generalised and simplified resulting in the incitement of social change and a call to action?
• What are the emerging manifestations of ethnographic films and how do these relate to tourism? Cool’s (2015) probing regarding “What can be done to ensure both continuity and new growth for ethnographic film as a practice and discourse community” is a reminder
• To what extent do ethnographic films induce and encourage visitation to the setting exemplified within the film narrative
• Chio (2014) argues that ethnographic films are somewhat comparable with the “tourist gaze as a means of exploring the tensions and perhaps unresolvable challenges in the production of a film as a part of fieldwork and a broader anthropological research project”. To what extent is Chio’s view evident and what are the implications for the particular way in which ethnographic films represent the exotic other in touristic contexts? 

Chio (2014) concludes that when it comes to ethnography, “the questions of interpretation and obligation matter deeply to me because they are rooted in an ethical engagement with two villages that are still grappling with the changing everyday conditions of living with, and in, tourism”. To what extent are issues of ethical judgment evident and if so, what are the complexities that arise?

It is expected that papers will be grounded in critical film/critical tourism analysis and crossover the topics above among others.

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

• Tourism and film
• Critical film analysis
• Tourism and ethnographies
• Ethnographic filmmaking
• Visual anthropology
• Tourism imaginaries
• Tourism and social justice
• Tourism and development
• Tourism and political economy
• Community based development
• Representation
• Indigenous tourism
• Slum tourism
• Tourism and poverty alleviation
• Adventure tourism
• Spiritual tourism and pilgrimage
• Tourism livelihoods
• Festivals and events

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 April, 2018

Inderscience is media partner for ALARP: Risk Management for Engineering 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for ALARP: Risk Management for Engineering (27-28 March 2017, Birmingham, UK).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Business Continuity and Risk Management
• Int. J. of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management
• Int. J. of Intelligent Defence Support Systems
• Int. J. of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology
• Int. J. of Risk Assessment and Management
• Int. J. of Reliability and Safety

Special issue published: "Models and Algorithms for Applied Optimisation Problems"

International Journal of Operational Research 28(2) 2017

Extended versions of papers presented at the Third International Conference on Numerical Analysis and Optimisation: Theory, Methods, Applications and Technology Transfer (NAOIII-2014).

• Sperm motility algorithm: a novel metaheuristic approach for global optimisation
• A simulated-based genetic algorithm for the forecasting of monthly peak electricity demand
• A genetic algorithm for integrated lot sizing and supplier selection with defective items and storage and supplier capacity constraints
• A partitioning algorithm for the mixed integer nonlinear programming problem
• Implicit extra-update multi-step quasi-Newton methods
• Estimation of efficiency scores with perturbation in data: an application for provincial gas companies in Iran
• An estimation of distribution algorithm for public transport driver scheduling
• Towards optimal engineering multitasking level through stochastic modelling
• Optimising the periodic distribution of gas cylinders with customers priority
• Modified polynomial-time full-NT-step infeasible interior-point algorithm for symmetric optimisation

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Information and Coding Theory

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Information and Coding Theory are now available here for free:

• Updatable encryption in distributed storage systems using key-homomorphic pseudorandom functions
• Cyclic LRC codes, binary LRC codes, and upper bounds on the distance of cyclic codes
• Integrated interleaved codes as locally recoverable codes: properties and performance
• Cooperative repair of multiple node failures in distributed storage systems
• Outer bounds on the storage-repair bandwidth trade-off of exact-repair regenerating codes

Call for papers: "Secure Data Storage in Cloud Computing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications.

Today, cloud computing has developed a lot and has been accepted by an increasing number of people. More and more companies and individuals prefer to outsource their data in the cloud to relief their local burden. Note that some of the client data is private, such as enterprise management data, individual photos and so on. Once the private data is leaked out, the consequences can be bad.

This makes the design of data storage and verification directed at the cloud in an urgent need. Hence, to create a safe and harmonious atmosphere of cloud computing is of particular importance. Although lots of research in the field of cloud computing has been studied, there are still many open research issues to be further explored. To meet the requirements of data security in cloud computing and improve the user experience of cloud clients, innovative and secure data storage and verification protocols should be further studied.

This special issue seeks to bring researchers, scholars and participators in information security area to address challenges and present effective solutions for secure cloud storage.

We invite researchers to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will seek the continuing efforts to understand the novel techniques that lead to future improvements for the secure cloud storage.

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

• Secure cloud storage protocol
• Secure auditing protocols for cloud storage
• Data dynamics support to cloud data verification
• Outsourced data verification for multi-user in multi-cloud
• Cloud storage supporting malicious user revocation
• Privacy preserving in cloud storage
• Storage QoS in a multi-tenant cloud
• Replication and consistency in cloud storage
• Backup and archival in cloud storage

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 October, 2017

Special issue published: "When Entrepreneurship Meets Innovation"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 21(1/2) 2017

• Entrepreneurship: an evolving conceptual framework
• Pathways towards the entrepreneurial university for creating entrepreneurial engineers: an Italian case
• Empirical evidence on the entrepreneurial mind of the female graduate-to-be in Malaysia
• Entrepreneurial design: the role of design as driver of entrepreneurial opportunity generation and assessment
• When incubators evolve: new models to assist innovative entrepreneurs
• Small, young firm flexibility and performance in the context of disruptive innovations
• Innovation diffusion, licensing and corporate entrepreneurship - a conceptual review
• Craft by you: acquiring consumer's idea to the product development for handicraft business in Thailand

Inderscience is media partner for 2nd Annual Wind Power Big Data and IoT

Inderscience is a media partner for 2nd Annual Wind Power Big Data and IoT (30-31 March 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Renewable Energy Technology
• Int. J. of Smart Grid and Green Communications

More information is available here.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems are now available here for free:

• Distance and direction-based location aided multi-hop routing protocol for vehicular ad-hoc networks
• RFID-based tracing for wine supply chain
• Cross layer weight based on demand routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks
• Sum-rate maximisation for two-way AF MIMO relaying networks and random antenna selection
• A model for slash-and-burn using cellular automata

Special issue published: "Managing Emotions for Organisational Excellence"

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion 7(3) 2016

• Emotional intelligence and work performance of leaders - a study done with corporates and higher academic institutions in Abu Dhabi Emirate
• Does emotional intelligence contribute to contentment? Exploring the association between work-life balance and job satisfaction
• Organisational effectiveness through trained transformational leadership: a meta-analysis
• Attainment and enactment of leadership among women in the United Arab Emirates: proposing relevant theoretical foundations
• Whether social media use differs across different personality types? Insights for managing human resources

Call for papers: "Coagulation Flocculation Applications in Landfill Leachate Treatment"

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

A large amount of solid waste is generated due to the rapid growth of population, industrial and economic activities. When not properly handled, these wastes may bring negative effects to the environment, especially on leachate. Leachate is considered the greatest environmental concern in solid waste management. Leachate contains highly contaminated and hazardous substances and if left untreated, it will end up mixing with the surface and groundwater.

 

Generally, leachate is treated via biological, chemical, or physical methods, the suitability of which depends on the quality of the leachate. Coagulation-flocculation is one of the effective treatment methods of leachate. The performance of the coagulation process depends on the type of coagulant used and the characteristics of the liquid to be treated. A coagulant can be natural or chemical, where aluminium chloride, ferric chloride, polyaluminium chloride and ferrous sulfate are the most common.

 

To date, researchers are still searching for the optimal conditions in coagulation-flocculation processes. New coagulants are also being developed. Recently, there has been interest in developing composite coagulant to enhance coagulant abilities. Therefore, the papers of this special issue will address research on applications of coagulation flocculation processes in landfill leachate treatment.

 

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

• Types of coagulant and flocculants-chemical, natural, combination
• Novel coagulant and coagulant aids
• Combination of coagulation-flocculation process with other treatment methods
• Mechanism and behaviour
• Cost implications
• Biodegradability improvement
• Influence on leachate compositions
• Pre and post coagulation-flocculation processes
• Chemical reactions and mass balance
• Optimisation, modelling and computation
• Design
• Other related topics of coagulation-flocculation in landfill leachate treatment

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 March 2017

Notification to authors: 31 June 2017

Final versions due: 31 October 2017

Free sample articles newly available from European Journal of Industrial Engineering

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

• Implications of channel structure for marketing remanufactured products
• Scheduling trucks in a multiple-door cross docking system with unequal ready times
• Coordination of random yield supply chains with improved revenue sharing contracts
• A simulation framework for studying blocking effects in warehouse systems with autonomous vehicles
• Optimal decisions of a hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing system within a closed-loop supply chain
• Cognitive mapping links human factors to corporate strategies

Inderscience is media partner for Real Driving Emissions Forum 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Real Driving Emissions Forum (19-20 April 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
• Int. J. of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing
• Int. J. of Power Electronics

More information on this event is available here.

 

Special issue published: "Big Data Aspects: Data Analysis and Computing Infrastructure"

International Journal of Data Science 1(4) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the international conference “Big Data, Knowledge and Control Systems Engineering" (BdKCSE’2014).

• Scalable system with accelerators for financial option prices estimation
• Employment modelling through classification and regression trees
• Flood risk zones of Maritza River and its feeders around Svilengrad municipality estimated under Smart Water project
• Residual bounds of the nonlinear matrix equation X + A*F(X)A = Q
• Cooperation of substantial agents in MAS
• An analysis of the relation between natural disasters and Big Data

Additional paper

• Resistant measures in assessing the adequacy of split-plot design models

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management

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

• Developing a multi-objective BCC model in grey environment
• Evaluation of asset replacement strategies considering economic cycles: lessons from the machinery rental business
• An empirical model for the barriers to successful implementation of marketing strategies: a fuzzy approach
• Demand chain management implementation enablers: an interpretive structural modelling approach
• An analysis of firms' sustainable operations strategies: a game theory approach

Call for papers: "Advances in Forensic Engineering Beyond 2020: Innovation, Technology and Challenges"

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

The production and the use of products in today’s society involves a broad range of requirements, in spite of the huge resources and human efforts expended in product development. Unfortunately, these products do break, disintegrate or fail from time to time. Product and material failure represents huge costs in repair, replacement, down-time and involvement by personnel. The investigation into the failure of the products is to eventually identify whatever the failure was as a result of design or the fact that it was improperly manufactured. The benefits of forensic investigations are providing scientific answers to complex engineering incidents of accidents, fires, explosions, product failures and more and also the lessons learned from failures and the use of those lessons to improve codes, standards and practices to avoid similar failures in the future.

 

The aim of the journal is to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers, practitioners and educators and research scholars to exchange, discuss and share their experiences and research results on the investigation of failures or other performance problems of materials, products, structures or components that fail to perform, resulting in personal injury or loss of property.

 

Objectives

• To strengthen the link between research and development carried out at universities and research organisations, and the needs of industry
• To attract interdisciplinary work dedicated to the design against and prevention of engineering failure
• To motivate the next generation of researchers to promote their interests in forensic engineering and related fields

 

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

• Advanced forensic engineering techniques
• Computer applications in forensic engineering
• Human error and human reliability assessment
• Product liability forensic engineering
• Human factors in engineering
• Safety engineering
• Legal aspects of engineering practice
• Engineering ethics
• Preventive maintenance
• Electrical systems forensic
• Network modelling and performance
• Process safety and lost prevention
• Risk analysis
• Geo-forensic and structural failures
• Material degradation and mechanical failure
• Post-disaster damage assessment

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 1 July, 2017

Notification to authors: 1 October, 2017

Final versions due: 1 December, 2017

Special issue published: "Electronic Governance and Open Society: Challenges In Eurasia"

International Journal of Electronic Governance 8(3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented as part of the EGOSE conference series.

• Russian movement for 'open government': issues of civic engagement in politics
• Expert assessment of open government in Russia: methodology, results and implementation impeding factors
• Open government ideologies in post-soviet countries
• Program overview of e-government development within the Eurasian economic union: progress, challenges and prospects
• Community characteristics of Twitter followers in EU-countries governmental accounts
• E-inclusion and perception of time among elderly: Russian regional perspective

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications are now available here for free:

• Swarm simulated annealing algorithm with knowledge-based sampling for travelling salesman problem
• Shuffled frog leaping algorithm based on enhanced learning
• Optimising hazardous materials transport network based on multi-objective hybrid intelligence algorithm
• Scalable fault models for diagnosis of synchronous generators
• A model for software defect prediction using support vector machine based on CBA
• Hybrid decision support system using PLSR-fuzzy model for GSM-based site-specific irrigation notification and control in precision agriculture

Call for papers: "ICTs for Active Learning in STEM Disciplines"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning.

We live in a society where exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education plays a very important role in all aspects of life. Several initiatives have been undertaken worldwide to increase student interest in STEM fields and in the pursuit of STEM-related careers. It is certainly to the advantage of a society to have scientifically literate citizens and school curricula that are tailored towards designs where practitioners adjust to various interdisciplinary collaborations and are socially responsible. Modern perspectives place more emphasis on student empowerment as learners exercise across a broad range of contexts, their capstone projects being a good example, by enhancing the development of cognitive, practical and transferable skills. Emphasis is also being placed on ideas that increase entrepreneurial awareness and lead to interesting applications, but also improve the job opportunities of young people, connecting graduates with the industry and the workforce in general. Addressing social problems effectively increasingly requires scientifically literate citizens and school curricula investing in innovations that involve basic science research, along with its applications and implications, environmental concerns and technology development. Moreover, innovations in education are also important, inasmuch as education is a significant tool for developing not only well-informed and knowledgeable citizens, but also socially responsible and creative individuals who will ensure continuation of scientific inquiry with sustainable outcomes.

 

Overall, more ‘studentcentred’ and independent learning with the goal of increasing experiential learning and job opportunities is currently recommended for STEM programs, in STEM courses and STEM capstone (senior thesis) projects. Faculty-mentored STEM courses and capstone projects are a vital component for the provision of high-quality STEM education in modern academic institutions, typically engaging students in personalised learning experiences that provide the culmination of theoretical approaches and applied work practice experiences in the senior year of an undergraduate degree. The new trend focuses on project-based, often team-taught instruction, which takes into consideration interdisciplinary perspectives. A number of STEM courses, including the capstone project in STEM disciplines, typically provide students with the opportunity to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills while investigating a specialised area of interest. Students synthesise the learning from core courses and STEM elective pathways to solve real-world problems related to their chosen fields. Usually students have the assistance of teachers or mentors, and often of tutors who guide them through their courses and project deliverables. The capstone project especially should serve as a culminating demonstration of students’ active prior academic and technical knowledge and skills acquired, to address complex and authentic social problems. Effective capstone experiences should be tailored to specific disciplinary requirements, be mindful of student cohort size and provide a variety of assessment tasks.

 

The new perspective helps students integrate and synthesise content, further develop problem-solving and communication skills, and understand the significance of high-quality knowledge adnd critical and practical skills, as well as the process of production and delivery of knowledge. A good number of STEM courses together with capstone projects ensure that graduates will be able to transition successfully to various career pathways and graduate studies or gain employment in the competitive workplace. Recently there are efforts to engage more undergraduates in research and internships, in comparison to the past where the most advanced and highly motivated students participated. As a result, there is a need for STEM curricula revision and for establishing consistency in the way students are mentored and assessed, leading to student empowerment in terms of knowledge gain and transferable skill development.

 

In this special issue, selected best practices, enhanced with ICTs, for effective teaching of STEM curricula will be considered in terms of applying various active and integrated learning didactical approaches such as active learning, problem solving, technology-driven learning innovation and other teaching strategies. They will be analysed in terms of the following selected dimensions: goals, learning outcomes, pedagogical methods and techniques used. Comparison and analysis of the similarities and differences between selected practices in terms of teaching goals, course learning outcomes and pedagogical methods used are also welcome in order to develop a typology of the best effective active learning strategies for STEM education.

 

Additional special emphasis is paid to theoretical background in terms of learning theories and didactical/teaching best practices in STEM, and especially capstone, courses and in the preparation of guides by interpreting a number of requirements in STEM capstone projects and the common ways in which capstone experiences are integrated into the curriculum. The notion of a capstone experience is to be explored and discussed in relation to the objectives of methodologies for the effective provision of collaboration, mentoring and learning processes in typical capstone projects, as related to the concepts of integrated knowledge management and development and knowledge transfer.

 

Key issues will be considered in designing and implementing STEM curricula and capstone projects, and emphasis is put on the interpretation of modern available ICTs guides as recommended technological enabled toolkits with services available to students in STEM courses and in capstone projects.

 

The objective is to communicate and disseminate recent learning technologies, learning management, internet technology and STEM research and success stories that demonstrate the power of ICTs to improve the learning performance and learning experience with the provision of advanced services for learners and mentors in STEM courses and in capstone projects. We will demonstrate state-of-the art approaches of emerging ICTs and applications and other innovative technologies that have had successful application worldwide and show how new, advanced, user-active learning designs and collaborative learning strategies can expand the sustainability frontiers in advanced technology-enhanced learning towards the smart knowledge society vision.

 

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

• Learning theories best suited for the design of STEM courses and STEM capstone projects (senior thesis)
• Methods used in the development of STEM courses and STEM capstone projects
• Active learning strategies in STEM courses and in STEM capstone projects
• Promoting creative and critical thinking in STEM disciplines
• Action research in STEM courses and capstone projects
• Mentoring in STEM courses and in STEM capstone projects
• Knowledge management, student empowerment and social development in the context of STEM courses and STEM capstone projects
• Technology-enhanced collaboration in STEM capstone projects
• Focused studies for the role of ICTs in STEM capstone projects: virtual reality, collaborative learning spaces, social networks, learning analytics, learning games
• Development of STEM capstone project guides emphasising the role of ICTs

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 15 March, 2017

Notification to authors: 31 May, 2017

Final versions due: 30 July, 2017

What’s gonna drive you home?

Popular music is jam-packed with classic songs about cars, racing engines, heading down the highway, backseat romance at the drive-in, and simply feeling safe in one’s car. The list is long, but, with the advent of the self-driving, autonomous, car will we see an emerging generation of songwriters crooning about these digitised vehicles with their fuel cells, silent motors and blocked up ashtrays? Will the list of songs about such cars be inexhaustive?

Erik Olson of the BI Norwegian Business School, in Oslo, Norway, discusses the implications of self-driving vehicle technology on consumer brand equity and relationships in the International Journal of Technology Marketing.

“The freedom, fun, status, and utility that the automobile provides consumers have made it one of the most widely adopted and loved products of all time, and this emotional attachment is reflected in the popular song lyrics” explains Olson. From The Beach Boys singing about drag racing their little Deuce Coupe to Janis Joplin beseeching The Lord to buy her a Mercedes-Benz, “No other product has been the subject of as many popular ‘love songs’ as the automobile and its brands, with Chevrolet alone mentioned in more than 100 popular songs,” Olson adds.

Innovation drives us forward, but autonomy might well put the brakes on the classic automobile song. Of course such worries may be most prevalent among those of us who grew up driving our own cars, because future generations may see steering wheels as a quaint inconvenience that interferes with their social media use during their morning ride to work, and indeed may not wish to own a car at all. Thus without the interaction that comes from owning and driving a particular car brand, it remains to be seen if future consumers and songwriters will feel the same inspiration to sing about an Uber or Google operated autonomous car.

If one of the first car songs talked of Henry making a lady out of Lizzie, referring to Henry Ford’s Model T, the “Tin Lizzie”, the best part of a century ago, then maybe one day, they’ll be singing the Uber Google Boogie…or maybe not.


Olson, E.L. (2017) ‘Will songs be written about autonomous cars? The implications of self-driving vehicle technology on consumer brand equity and relationships’, Int. J. Technology Marketing, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.23–41.

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Annual Offshore Power Cables Engineering and Reliability 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for 3rd Annual Offshore Power Cables Engineering and Reliability (22-23 February 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Power Electronics
• Int. J. of Renewable Energy Technology
• Int. J. of Smart Grid and Green Communications

More information on this event is available here.

Special issue published: "Advancement in Operations Management and Modelling in Established and Emerging Markets: Evidence from the 21st Century"

International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management 6(1/2) 2016

• The contribution of knowledge management process capability on supply chain performance: a general review in Malaysia
• Production planning optimisation and challenges in steel production: SSAB process review
• Regression modelling analysis of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction: a case of tourist agricultural farm
• Smart cards in public transportation: spatial platforms, diffusion and externality creation

Additional papers

• Performance analysis of inventory models, distribution and transportation networks in forward supply chain: a theoretical approach
• Total quality management barriers: Malaysia's SME perspective
• Beliefs towards sales promotion technique: the perspective of Malaysia emerging market

New free sample article available from European Journal of International Management

The following sample article has been added to the Editor's pick of sample articles from the European Journal of International Management:

"Managing multinational operations: from organisational structures to mental structures and from operations to innovations"

Call for papers: "Medical Imaging"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Image Mining.

In modern medicine, medical imaging has undergone major advancements and is used widespread for the majority of diagnosis. This ability to achieve information about any organism in the body has many useful clinical applications. Medical imaging is a great help in revealing internal structures hidden by the skin and bones, as well as to diagnose and treat disease. It also establishes a huge data storage of normal anatomy and physiology to make it possible to identify abnormalities. Different techniques are available in medical imaging such as ultrasound imaging, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), medical x-ray imaging, computed tomography (CT), dental cone-beam computed tomography, mammography etc. which are used to diagnose, monitor, or treat medical conditions. Each type of technology gives different information about the area of the body being studied or treated, related to possible disease, injury, or the effectiveness of medical treatment.

This special issue will include a rich diversity of concepts, techniques, and applications of medical imaging. Research papers that focus on empirical studies and evaluations as well as conceptual papers will be considered for publication. Submitted papers will cover a wide range of topics of medical imaging.

We aim to create a common platform for motivated people through which research and development activities in the areas of medical imaging and relevant fields can accelerate, so that this platform will contribute towards the growth of the society as a whole.

In this regard, prospective authors/researchers are requested to submit quality original as well as review works within the scope mentioned. All submitted papers will be peer-reviewed and selected based on quality and relevance.

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

• Biomedical applications of medical imaging
• Computed tomography (CT)
• Computer-aided diagnosis and quantitative image analysis
• Dental cone-beam computed tomography
• Digital pathology
• Echocardiography
• Elastography
• Electron imaging
• Fluoroscopy
• Image perception and observer performance
• Image processing, analysis and display
• Image quality and image perception
• Image-guided procedures
• Imaging information systems
• Imaging physics
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Mammography
• Medical imaging in drug development, delivery, and evaluation
• Medical Imaging in the cloud
• Medical x-ray imaging
• Molecular imaging
• MRI (magnetic resonance Imaging)
• Musculoskeletal imaging
• Non-diagnostic imaging
• Nuclear imaging
• Optical imaging
• Pediatric x-ray imaging
• Photoacoustic imaging
• Picture archiving and communications systems (PACS)
• Radiography
• Small-animal imaging
• Tactile imaging
• Tomographic reconstruction algorithms
• Ultrasonic imaging
• Visualisation and modelling techniques

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 June, 2017
Notification to authors: 31 August, 2017
Final versions due by: 20 October, 2017

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance

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

• Beating the market: Can evolutionary-based portfolio optimisation outperform the Talmudic diversification strategy?
• Liquidity, liquidity risk and stock returns: evidence from Vietnam
• Volatility of stock market and exchange rate returns in Peru: Long memory or short memory with level shifts?
• Inflation persistence: revisited
• Dynamic relations of the inertia of monetary policy: application to the Brazilian case by a Kalman approach

Special issue published: "Mechanism Design for Robots"

International Journal of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems 3(2/3) 2016

Extended versions of papers presented at the 2015 IFToMM International Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics (MEDER 2015).

• Full-scale Atlas motion platform: structure, actuation, and control
• Dynamic characteristics of two cylinders' joint surfaces based on fractal theory
• Development of a 5-DOF arc welding robot
• Forward kinematic model of a new spherical parallel manipulator used as a master device
• Selection methodology for end-effectors of a modular system for wrist joints as parts of a reconfigurable parallel robot
• Structural design and performance analysis of moving mechanism of insulator inspection robot
• The physical upper bound on pose repeatability of general serial manipulators based on joint resolution
• Research on kinematics and singularity of a 3-RRR planar hybrid mechanism
• Portable design and range of motion control for an ankle rehabilitation mechanism capable of adjusting to changes in joint axis
• Design analysis and dynamic modelling of a high-speed 3T1R parallel robot for pick-and-place application

Call for papers: "Progress in Higher Education Curriculum for Sustainability"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Higher Education and Sustainability.

Sustainability is a multidisciplinary discipline of study, research and practice. It is defined in the Brundtland report as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The three core pillars of sustainability are the environment, society and economy. Recently, more than one important pillar was incorporated – the institutional pillar.

 

Today, the application of higher education curriculum for sustainability is a relatively new phenomenon and a great challenge. This special issue will focus on progress in higher education curriculum for sustainability. Articles with a case study in higher education curriculum for sustainability are welcome, and we invite submissions of high-quality articles.

 

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

• Change management
• Curricula assessment
• Curricula change
• Education for sustainability
• Greening pedagogical
• Interdisciplinarity
• Participatory learning
• Resilience in higher education
• Teaching and learning
• Teaching methods
• University curricula

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 30 June, 2017

Notification to authors: 30 September, 2017

Final versions due: 30 December, 2017

First issue: International Journal of Complexity in Applied Science and Technology (free sample issue available)

The study of complex systems represents a new approach to science and technology, exploring how collective behaviours of a system are functions of ties between parts and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment. The International Journal of Complexity in Applied Science and Technology meets the need for a forum to disseminate information on such complex systems and complexity science. It emphasises the design, development and applications of dynamic models, including systems dynamics and agent-based approaches. IJCAST also presents "solutions" to complex managerial problems across domains.

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

Call for papers: "Composite Materials: Fabrication, Engineering and Applications"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation.

Currently, it is possible to define composite materials as “engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure“. Recently, the use of advanced composites has been augmented in numerous areas of science and technology due to their exceptional mechanical and physical properties. Therefore, composites have the potential to substitute conventional materials in several fields of application such as automotive, biomedical, aeronautical and aerospace as well as in other areas in advanced industries.

 

We welcome the submission of high-quality research articles with experimental and computational developments applied in composite materials: fabrication, engineering and applications are welcome.

 

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

• Polymeric matrix composites
• Metal matrix composites
• Ceramic matrix composites
• Nanocomposites
• Biomedical composites
• Structural composites
• Hybrid composites
• Green composites
• Functional composites
• Smart composites
• Wood composites

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 July, 2017

Notification to authors: 31 October, 2017

Final versions due: 31 December, 2017

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Vehicle Performance

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

• Modelling and optimisation of pure electric vehicle powertrains: a comparison of single and two speed transmissions
• Design validation of active trailer steering systems for improving the low-speed manoeuvrability of multi-trailer articulated heavy vehicles using driver-hardware/software-in-the-loop real-time simulations
• Articulated heavy vehicle lateral dynamic analysis using an automated frequency response measuring technique
• Driver vigilance level detection systems: a literature survey

Special issue published: "Advances in Evolutionary Computation, Fuzzy Logic and Swarm Intelligence"

International Journal of Swarm Intelligence 2(2/3/4) 2016

• Task scheduling using multi-objective hamming discrete particle swarm optimisation in distributed systems
• Evolutionary optimisation of atrial fibrillation diagnostic algorithms
• Power factor and motor efficiency optimisation of three-phase linear induction motor using NSGA-II algorithm
• An application of particle swarm optimisation method for solving network reconfiguration problem in distribution system
• Optimal dipole planar antenna array design for different UHF band applications using cuckoo search algorithm
• Exploring avoidance strategies and neighbourhood topologies in particle swarm optimisation 
• Application of comprehensive learning particle swarm optimisation algorithm for maximum likelihood DOA estimation in wireless sensor networks
• Fluctuation prediction of stock market index by adaptive evolutionary higher order neural networks
• Chemical reaction optimisation: a hybrid technique applied to functional link artificial neural networks with least mean square learning for foreign exchange rates forecasting

Call for papers: "Measurement Science in Machining Technology"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials.

Measurement science is an essential part of modern engineering and technology, but it is not easy to define. It is possible to define measurement as “the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be compared with other objects or events”. For this purpose, an improvement of the technical capability to use the concept of measurement is very important for the modern manufacturing industry.

 

Articles with experimental and computational developments applied in measurement science in machining technology are welcome. This special issue invites submissions of high-quality research articles related to measurement science in machining technology.

 

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

• Accuracy and precision
• Data analysis
• Dimensional metrology
• Industrial metrology
• Reliability and sampling
• Standardisation
• Uncertainly
• Experimental techniques
• Image and signal processing
• Instrumentation
• Machining processes
• Tool wear
• Modelling and simulation
• Cutting forces and cutting temperatures
• Surface finish and surface integrity
• Vibration and acoustic emission techniques

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 July, 2017

Notification to authors: 31 October, 2017

Final versions due: 31 December, 2017

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Computational Vision and Robotics are now available here for free:

• Robust audio watermarking based on multi-carrier modulation
• Shape descriptors-based generalised scheme for handwritten character recognition
• Image denoising based on adaptive spatial segmentation and multi-scale correlation in directionlet domain
• Multiobjective genetic algorithm-based adaptive wavelet design
• Automatic continuous speech recogniser for Dravidian languages using the auto associative neural network
• Automatic number plate recognition system by character position method
• Genetic algorithms-based dominant feature selection for face detection application
• Using ROI with ISOM compression to medical image
• RVM-based human action classification through Gabor and Haar feature extraction
• Frame differencing-based segmentation for low bit rate video codec using H.264
• Towards a distributed and parallel schema for active appearance model implementation
• Two approaches-based L2-SVMs reduced to MEB problems for dialect identification

Emotional security system

A security system is being developed that analyses the user’s brainwaves. The system then determines whether the user is in a fit mental state and grants them access to resources only if appropriate. Such a system might be used to control entry to a building, access to computer resources or even the withdrawal of money from an automated teller machine. It could also have applications in the military, electronic learning, and healthcare, according to research published in the International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms.

Most security systems simply expect a PIN or password while biometric systems look for a fingerprint, a view of the user’s iris or retina or some other mundane but unique characteristic. Now, Violeta Tulceanu of the University of Iasi is adding an emotion detector to biometric security.
“The true engine of motivation is our capacity to perceive pleasure and fear pain, and thus, reward and punishment,” explains Tulceanu. “Our ability to react to dangerous situations is directly related to our capacity to relate to our environment, and our sense of self-preservation.” As such, if one is in a well-balanced emotional state one will react to external factors according to context, group expectations, education, cultural background, social norms and personal inclinations, these are what game theory refers to as rational players. However, we are emotional creatures subject to wants and desires, lusts, greed, happiness and sadness, as well as the psychoactive effects of chemical stimulants that might make access to particular resources in some contexts inappropriate or hazardous.

In the new approach, Tulceanu first trains the system to recognise a user’s emotional “fingerprint” based on the patterns of electrical brainwaves they generate when presented with specific, evocative auditive stimuli. Each emotional state is matched to a given pattern and these are then associated with particular configurations of the system that allow or preclude access to given resources. When the user next presents requesting access, the system simply measures the current electrical brain activity and if the result of processing the credentials matches the “emotional fingerprint” access is granted or refused accordingly.

The system might thus be used to assess whether a person is acting responsibly and of their own accord. Tulceanu suggests that such a system could be used to ensure the safety and security of individuals and those around them that might be at risk if access is granted to particular resources. After all, any of us might suffer from depression, stress, or anxiety, as well as substance abuse which might affect detrimentally decisions made when accessing sensitive resources. Future work on this system involves being able to predict slow variations in the emotional state that may indicate a degenerative mental illness or chronic depression, helping prevent critical episodes.

Until recently, studies of emotion have been tarred with a somewhat pseudoscientific brush dating back to the nineteenth century and such quackery as phrenology. However, modern research techniques show that far from being ineffable, emotion is completely neurological, and lies at the core of all learning mechanisms. Thus, it can be treated more objectively in appropriate contexts.


Tulceanu, V. (2017) ‘Brainwave authentication using emotional patterns‘, Int. J. Advanced Intelligence Paradigms, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp.1-31.

Call for papers: "Intelligent Computation Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms.

Traditional intelligent computation systems proselytize research areas due to their capability to deal with commercial applications for next-generation technologies. Intelligent computation systems afford knowledge ambiguity and allow perspicacity in the decision-making process on research topics, with applications in every sector of the economy. Hybridisation of intelligent computation systems creates huge opportunities for both developers and researchers from intellectual fields and industries worldwide.

We are seeing developments in disparate areas and the onset of prevalent intelligent computation resources for finding real-time applications. Intelligent computational systems are mainly concerned with sustaining facile solutions using supervised machine learning, artificial neural networks, computer graphics, fuzzy systems, natural language processing, neural-symbolic processing, scientific computing, swarm intelligence, collaborative intelligence and intelligent computation system architectures.

This special issue aims to convey the extensive scope of issues related to the practice and theory of intelligent computation systems, and thus to inspire researchers to work for the benefit of mankind with factual analysis in research areas such as information security, computers and digital techniques, digital imaging, biomedical engineering and health informatics, management and data systems.

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

• Intelligent computation system architectures
• Intelligent system natural language processing
• Algorithms for intelligent computation systems
• Collaborative Intelligence
• Machine learning and data systems
• Fuzzy systems and artificial intelligence
• Glow worm swarm intelligence
• Soft computing approach and intelligent computation system
• Wired/wireless integrated networks
• Advanced intelligent computation paradigms
• Intelligence for security
• Bio-Inspired intelligent computing
• Evolutionary computation and data science
• Cyber intelligent computation system
• Intelligent interfaces and hybrid systems
• Bioinformatics and computational systems
• Digital imaging and biomedical engineering
• Ant colony optimisation
• Knowledge-based intelligent system
• Network approaches to big data science
• Telecommunication networks and wireless/mobile network security

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 16 April, 2018

Special issue published: "Recent Advances in Bio-Inspired Metaheuristics and Their Engineering Applications: Part 1"

International Journal of Metaheuristics 5(3/4) 2016

• Enriched artificial bee colony metaheuristic for hierarchical goal programming engineering design problems
• An empirical study of population-based metaheuristics for the multiple-choice multidimensional knapsack problem
• Bi-criteria parallel machine scheduling using nature-inspired hybrid flower pollination algorithm
• Prediction of the bottled propane gas sales using a neural network-based model
• Optimal design of PIDA controller for induction motor using Spider Monkey Optimization algorithm

Inderscience is media partner for Highly Potent Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Highly Potent Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients 2017 (22-23 May 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Cognitive Biometrics
• Int. J. of Behavioural and Healthcare Research
• Int. J. of Computational Biology and Drug Design
• Int. J. of Immunological Studies
• Int. J. of Medical Engineering and Informatics

More information on this event is available here.

Flying with cosmic radiation

Regulations on exposure to cosmic radiation for air passengers and crew exist but the public and air crews generally know very little about the risks, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Sustainable Aviation.

Without the protection of 5 miles of the Earth’s atmosphere above them, air travellers are more exposed to cosmic radiation than those who keep their feet firmly on the ground. There is a problem of accumulation for frequent flyers and air crews. However, despite the fact that regulations on exposure do exist in Europe and elsewhere, the public and air crews themselves are largely unaware of the issue, says Nataša Tomic-Petrovic of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, at the University of Belgrade, in Serbia. She has investigated this problem and presented a number of research studies on the risks to flyers associated with exposure to ionizing radiation from solar flares and outer space.

Tomic-Petrovic points out that exposure to ionizing radiation is an important risk factor for the development of cancer as the ionizing effect damages biomolecules. Among those biomolecules is DNA, mutations in which can trigger the uncontrolled cell replication of cancer. Cancer can sometimes result from repeated small doses of radiation of which we are completely unaware in our day to day lives our bodies not having the built in equivalent of a radiation detector. However, the effect of exposure to cosmic radiation on cancer risk is yet to be proven.

“European or worldwide environmental legislation is necessary, but also modern environmental education,” suggests Tomic-Petrovic. “Investments in the knowledge of citizens and informing them of the risks of radiation in aviation, its effects and manner of protection should become the priority for all of us.”

Tomic-Petrovic, N.M. (2016) ‘Radiation in aviation – risks and legal protection’, Int. J. Sustainable Aviation, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.159–169.

Call for papers: "New Technologies in the Big Data Era"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication.

In the era of big data, the complexity of data analysis and information extraction has grown dramatically. There is an increasing demand for scalable solutions that can handle the storage and acquisition bandwidth of current sensing and data analysis systems. Every discussion on big data usually includes a passing reference to the ubiquity of sensors: as we collect more data through sensors, we'll need tools to take advantage of data. The focus has been primarily on the tools that help you store and manage, visualise and summarise, and finally, analyse and make sense of big data collections. Since the leading big data innovators have tended to be web companies, data acquisition has often involved data exhaust or crawled data. The mechanics and details of collecting data from the physical world have garnered less attention.

 

Rather than store and discard many signals/measurements, it would be more efficient if one can acquire only the necessary signals to begin with. Nowadays, to keep abreast with the development in computational technologies, the big data processing system and the information management system have undergone a great change with the new computation method is getting more popular and the internet technology has also evolved swiftly, the new method has impact on the big data processing and information management system changes.

 

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

• Big data analysis algorithms
• Sparse representation for pattern recognition and classification
• Dictionary learning for sparse representation and modelling
• Sparsity-based event detection and classification in sensor networks
• Algorithms for big data mining
• Compressive sensing methods in big data storage
• Measurement/sampling procedures
• Mathematical theory of compressive sensing
• Compressive sensing for multiple signals or with additional information
• Hardware implementation of compressive sensing systems
• Applications of compressive sensing
• Big data systems and engineering method in big data era
• Big data novel theory, algorithm and applications
• Big data Infrastructure, MapReduce and cloud computing
• Big data visualisation
• Big data semantics, scientific discovery and intelligence
• Big data performance analysis and large-scale deployment
• Big data placement, scheduling, and optimisation
• Storage and computation management of big data
• Large-scale big data workflow management
• Mobility and big data
• Sensor network, social network and big data
• Big data applications in social network/web service/health/and so on

 

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 15 April, 2017

Notification to authors: 15 June, 2017

Final versions due: 15 August, 2017

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Process Systems Engineering

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

• Configurations for multiple thermal energy storages in thermal networks
• Analytical and experimental investigation of thermal efficiency improvement of thermochemical water splitting for hydrogen production
• Economic and environmental analysis of a green energy hub with energy storage under fixed and variable pricing structures
• Smart grids vs. storage management
• Heat management in a campus cafeteria with optimal insulation thickness for thermal comfort of a space-variant manikin
• Automotive underbody diffuser for battery thermal management
• Robust hydro-thermal power system controller considering energy capacitor system and wind power source
• Incentives for the reuse of electric vehicle batteries for load-shifting in residences
• Energy and exergy analyses of power generation via an integrated biomass post-firing combined-cycle
• Improving the accuracy of the single diode PV models
• gpuMF: a framework for parallel hybrid metaheuristics on GPU with application to the minimisation of harmonics in multilevel inverters
• Single phase low THD optimised inverter for PV voltage regulation

New Editor for International Journal of Migration and Border Studies

Dr. Idil Atak from Ryerson University in Canada has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies.

Special issue published: "Big Data Intelligence and Knowledge Engineering"

International Journal of Big Data Intelligence 4(1) 2017

• PaloPro: a platform for knowledge extraction from big social data and the news
• Optimising column family for OLAP queries in HBase
• A knowledge-based integrated framework for increasing social management intelligence
• Additional paper
• HCEm model and a comparative workload analysis of Hadoop cluster

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials are now available here for free:

• Experimental investigation of effect of roller burnishing process parameters on surface roughness and surface hardness of C40E steel
• Chip formation characteristics in the machining of titanium alloys: a review
• Morphological investigation of Ti-6Al-4V chips produced by conventional turning
• Experimental investigation on part quality and metallic particle emission when milling 6061-T6 aluminium alloy
• Experimental investigation on electrical discharge machining of RENE80 nickel super alloy
• Prediction of critical thrust force for exit-ply delamination during drilling composite laminates: thermo-mechanical analysis
• Effects of electrode configuration on MRR and EWR during electric discharge machining of Al/10wt%SiCp-MMC
• Influence of process parameters on material removal rate and surface roughness in WED-machining of Ti50Ni40Cu10 shape memory alloy
• Study the effect of black layer on electrode wear ratio in powder mixed electric discharge machining of titanium alloys
• Machinability of carbon/epoxy composites by electrical discharge machining