Call for papers: "Soft Computing Approaches in Wireless Networks with IoT and Medical Health Care System (SI-SWNMS)"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Systems Engineering.

Soft computing is a synergistic combination of artificial intelligence methodologies to model and solve real world problems that are either impossible or too difficult to model mathematically. Furthermore, the uses of conventional modelling techniques demand rigor, precision and certainty, which carry computational cost. On the other hand, soft computing utilises computation, reasoning and inference to reduce computational cost by exploiting tolerance for imprecision, uncertainty, partial truth and approximation. In addition to computational cost savings, soft computing is an excellent platform for autonomic computing, owing to its roots in artificial intelligence. Wireless communication networks are associated with much uncertainty and imprecision due to a number of stochastic processes such as escalating number of access points, constantly changing propagation channels, sudden variations in network load and random mobility of users. The wireless network operates in a less controlled environment, so is more susceptible to interference, signal loss, noise, and eavesdropping. Generally, wireless facilities have lower data rates than guided facilities. Frequencies can be more easily reused with guided media than with wireless media. This reality has fueled numerous applications of soft computing techniques in area of wireless communication and networking. Advances in wireless sensor networking have opened up new opportunities in healthcare systems. Sensor-based technology has invaded medical devices to replace thousands of wires connected to these devices found in hospitals. This technology has the capability of providing reliability in addition to enhanced mobility. In the future, we will see the integration of a vast array of wireless networks into existing specialised medical technology.

The aim is to invite scientists and researchers working in the field of wireless networking with IoT and medical health care system using soft computing tools. This special issue invites research articles on soft computing techniques for various domains and applications of wireless networking and medical health care system.

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

• Future wireless networks, architectures and protocols for wireless networks
• MAC, routing and transport protocols for wireless networks
• Energy efficient wireless devices and technologies
• Collaborative/cooperative/cognitive networking protocols
• Wireless communications energy , machine-to-machine (M2M) and device-to-device (D2D)
• Event synchronisation, self organisation, data aggregation, 3G/4G, WLAN, WPAN, satellite
• Energy-performance tradeoff and hybrid approaches
• 5G, vehicle networks, cognitive radio, underwater with wireless sensor networks
• Long-life sensor node deployment and topology control
• Energy-efficient communication protocol design
• Heterogeneous overlay networks, flying wireless robots networks
• Ad hoc audio and video connectivity
• Microwave and antenna propagation, signal processing/ data communication
• Energy efficient algorithms and implementations in Internet of Things
• Artificial neural networks for abnormality detection in scan images such as brain, eye, lungs etc.
• Fuzzy theory for abnormal region segmentation in scan images.
• Define networks wireless mesh networks delay, tolerant, data networks, security and privacy
• Medical image texture analysis, noise cancellation in EEG, ECG, MG, etc. signals
• NOMA in massive MIMO systems, full-duplex wireless networks and cognitive networking
• Micro wave and RF energy harvesting/SWIPT-enabled wireless sensor networks and Internet of Things

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 January, 2018
Notification to authors: 30 April, 2018
Final versions due by: 30 June, 2018

Call for papers: "Artificial Intelligence Facilities Smart Cities Development"

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

During urbanisation, several challenges have been raised and should be addressed, such as population explosion, rising levels of pollution, exponential growth of data, high cost of living, etc. It seriously affects the sustainable development of the economic society. To construct the smart city is a possible way to face these challenges and can improve the quality of citizens’ life and the economic growth as well. New-generation technologies have been used extensively in smart city, such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, etc. This special issue will focus on the new-generation technologies for smart cities development.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at The Third IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2 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:

• Smart city theory, modeling and simulation
• Smart transportation
• Smart healthcare
• Smart grid
• Smart buildings
• Smart manufacturing and logistics
• Artificial intelligence for smart city
• Computational intelligence for smart city
• Pattern recognition for smart city
• Big data for smart city
• Intelligent infrastructure
• Smart economy development
• Open data and big data analytics
• Safety and security systems
• Smart emergency management
• Smart environment and policy development
• Citizen engagement and smart governance
• Connected vehicle (CV) technologies
• Smart mobility and transportation
• Internet of things (IoT) for smart cities
• Intelligent vehicle-to-infrastructure integration
• Environmental monitoring technologies

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 11 March, 2018

Call for papers: "Leadership and Management: Challenges and Issues Facing Organisations in Developing Countries"

For a special issue of the Middle East Journal of Management.

The goal of this special issue will be to present research on challenges and issues faced by organisations in developing countries. Unlike organisations working and operating in developed countries, developing country organisations are facing issues and challenges that are different. The leadership and management styles of developing and newly developed Asian countries differ. Some of the theories that can be applied in developed countries become redundant in the Asian context especially if theories related to motivation, commitment, leadership etc are analysed. Therefore, to have an in-depth knowledge of challenges being faced by developing country organisations would yield new insights for theory building.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2^nd International Conference on Governance and Public Policy (ICGPP’18), 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:

• Leadership challenges
• Corporate social responsibility
• Human resource issues faced by organisations in developing world
• Organisational learning and learning organisation
• Corporate sustainability
• Supply chain management
• Financial planning and management
• Women in business

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 10 December, 2017
Notification to authors: 30 January, 2018
Final versions due by: 10 March, 2018

Inderscience is media partner for Lyophilization USA

Inderscience is a media partner for Lyophilization USA (16 - 17 November 2017, Iselin, USA).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Biomedical Engineering and Technology 
• Int. J. of Healthcare Technology and Management 
• Int. J. of Materials and Product Technology 

More information on this event is available here.

Inderscience is media partner for International Pharma Regulatory Summit

Inderscience is a media partner for International Pharma Regulatory Summit (27 - 28 September 2017, Singapore).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Healthcare Policy
• Int. J. of Liability and Scientific Enquiry 

More information on this event is available here.

Call for papers: "Intellectual Energy Technologies: Prospects and International Experience"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy.

The special issue will be devoted to the discussion of modern achievements and promising research in the sphere of intelligent technologies in solving real, applied problems in various fields of industry and energy policies of different countries. It will be published to support interdisciplinary discussion and publication of research results that generalise research in technical branches of knowledge in higher education institutions, research institutes, large industrial enterprises, research and production associations of the Russian Federation, as well as authors from other countries, and the results of research carried out on the personal initiative of the authors.

The special issue may be of interest to a wide range of specialists in the field of designing innovative solutions and organisational measures that increase the efficiency of the use of energy technologies in their various manifestations. It is also of interest to scientific and engineering personnel engaged in the development, design and calibration of automation devices and control systems for technical electrified systems and facilities, as well as information and measuring instruments for obtaining, measuring and researching information about currents in electrical complexes and systems; and for students and undergraduates studying "Electrical power engineering and electrical engineering", "Automated systems", "Control systems in energy technologies” and postgraduate students in the corresponding branches of study.

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

• Control systems and technologies for various energy facilities
• Industrial mechatronic systems and robotics
• Electric power systems and renewable energy sources
• Power electronics, electrical machines and electric drives
• Microprocessor control systems and signal processing
• Modelling and computer technologies
• Theory and practice of dynamic measurements
• Organisational and management solutions for energy and resource conservation

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 September, 2017

Inderscience is media partner for 4th Annual Biosimilars North America

Inderscience is a media partner for 4th Annual Biosimilars North America (15 - 16 November 2017, Iselin, USA).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Bioinformatics Research and Applications 
• Int. J. of Biotechnology 
• Int. J. of Immunological Studies 

More information on this event is available here.

Inderscience is media partner for Benelux Infrastructure Forum

Inderscience is a media partner for Benelux Infrastructure Forum (22 - 23 November 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Critical Infrastructures
• Int. J. of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems 
• Int. J. of Green Economics 
• Int. J. of Sustainable Development 
• Int. J. of Sustainable Real Estate and Construction Economics 
• Int. J. of Trade and Global Markets 

More information on this event is available here.

Call for papers: "Quantifying Human Factors: Towards Analytical Human-in-the-Loop"

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

Improvements in safety in the air and in space can be achieved through better ergonomics, better work environments, and other efforts of the traditional avionic psychology that directly affect human behaviours and performance. There is also a significant potential for further reduction in aerospace accidents and casualties through better understanding of the role that various uncertainties play in the planner’s and operator’s worlds of work, when never-perfect humans, never failure-free navigation equipment and instrumentation, never hundred-percent-predictable response of the object of control (air- or space-craft), and uncertain and often harsh environments contribute jointly to the likelihood of a mishap. By employing quantifiable and measurable ways of assessing the role and significance of such uncertainties and treating a human-in-the-loop (HITL) as a part, often the most crucial part, of a complex man–instrumentation–equipment–vehicle–environment system, one could improve dramatically the state-of-the-art in assuring aerospace operational safety. This can be done by predicting, quantifying and, if necessary, even specifying an adequate (low enough) probability of a possible accident. You are invited to submit a paper on the importance and role of modelling of the human factor in various HITL missions and situations.  

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

• Quantification of the human factor in the areas, missions and situations where its role is important
• Application of the non-deterministic (probabilistic) approaches
• Quantification of the human factor in avionic psychology
• Quantification of the human factor in aerospace engineering
• Quantification of the human factor in safety-in-the-air and safety-at-sea situations
• Quantification of the human factor in automotive engineering
• Quantification of the human factor in medicine
• Quantification of the human factor in human-computer interactions
• Quantification of the human factor in military missions and situations
• Quantification of the human factor in situations when this factor and instrumentation/equipment performance contribute jointly to the outcome of an avionic or military mission and/or situation

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 October, 2017
Notification to authors: 1 December, 2017
Final versions due by: 15 February, 2018

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Automation and Logistics

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

• Multi-agent-based bus route optimisation for restricting passenger traffic bottlenecks in disaster situations
• Evolutionary multi-objective route and fleet assignment optimisation for regular and non-regular flights 
• A k-means clustering for supply chain risk management with embedded network connectivity 
• Collective behaviour in cascade model depends on turn of the choice 
• Effects of stubborn decision-makers on vaccination and disease propagation in social networks 
• Multi-agent control system with intelligent optimisation for building energy and comfort management 
• Optimum driving condition for lift creating cylinder by plasma actuators based on wind tunnel evaluation-based design 
• Structurisation and visualisation of design space for launch vehicle with hybrid rocket engine 
• Evolutionary multi-level robust solution search for noisy multi-objective optimisation problems with different noise levels

New Editor for the International Journal of Humanitarian Technology

Prof. Sarhan M. Musa from Prairie View A&M University in the USA has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Humanitarian Technology.

Call for papers "Connecting the Dots between Management and Governance: A Comparative Corporate Governance Mechanism"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Comparative Management.

The purpose of this special issue will be to contribute to comparative corporate governance dynamics and mechanisms by exploring contemporary research questions on the relationship between management and governance of the firm.

Nowadays, the way organisations are governed has become more important than the way they are managed. However, some people fail to make the distinction between governance and management and understand their connection, since management and governance are not mutually incompatible (Bovaird and Löffler, 2009: 11; Tricker, 2009: 35) ; indicating that their combined organisational impact makes them stringently related to one another (Capasso and Dagnino, 2014: 929 ).

Trying to define governance and/or corporate governance seems to open Pandora’s box since literature offers a plethora of definitions (e.g. Kooiman, 1993; Daily et al., 2003; Aguilera and Jackson, 2010; Nerantzidis et al., 2012). For instance, “governance is the process whereby societies or organizations make important decisions, determine whom they involve and how they render account” (Graham et al., 2003). This illustrate that governance is not a static action, but rather a dynamic process in which practices are revised and enhanced contingent on new organisational realities (Aguilera and Cuervo-Cazurra, 2004: 436). On the other hand, management is “the process of administering and coordinating resources effectively and efficiently is an effort to achieve the goals of the organization” (Lewis et al., 2007: 5). This means that management runs the organisation while governance ensures that it is being well run and run in the right direction. Taking into consideration all management disciplines (strategic management, risk management, impression management etc.), it is obvious that the relationship between management and governance is even more complicated.

For this reason, this special issue will aim to explore the links between management and governance to better understand the systems, practices, mechanisms, compensations, risks, disclosures, diversity and relationships affecting the way companies and organisations are directed and controlled. This interdisciplinary theme is motivated by various theoretical underpinnings explored in governance, management, organisational theory, and accounting and finance.

Inspired by these factors, we welcome studies that conduct critical analysis, comparative observation, empirical testing and longitudinal case investigations relating to the special issue theme. Importantly, submissions must establish a coherent relation between management and governance as broadly has been defined. We also expect that submissions make contributions to extant theories such as agency theory, stewardship theory, managerial hubris, institutional theory, RBV, and TCE, among others by crafting comparative corporate governance typologies with a view to “connecting the dots between management and governance of the firm”.

This special issue aims to explore, for example,

• Does ownership structure play a significant role to better understand the cross-national diversity of governance and management ?
• Do governance regimes encourage a balance between diversity and the need for cohesion that best serves the firm’s purpose?
• Does labour management (i.e. employment relationships, pay systems) interact with corporate governance quality ?
• Do board and audit committee activities are important factors in constraining the propensity of managers to engage in earnings management ?
• How does a corporate governance mechanism affect the selected information that managers release and present (known as impression management) ? 

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

• The relationship between corporate governance and strategic management
• Connecting the history between management and governance
• The role of management in improving governance of the firm
• Firm performance, governance and CEO compensation (e.g. Petra and Dorata, 2008; Aguilera and Jackson, 2010)
• Gender diversity in corporate governance and top management team-TMT (e.g. Francoeur et al., 2008; Ben ‐ Amar et al., 2013)
• Governance and management in non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• Ethical issues of management and governance (e.g. Huang et al., 2008)
• Corporate governance and earning management (e.g. Xie et al., 2003 )
• Corporate governance and risk management (e.g. Tao and Hutchinson, 2013)
• Corporate governance and impression management (e.g. Osma and Guillamón-Saorín, 2011; Benson et al., 2015)
• Governing and managing firms in crisis (e.g. Sun et al., 2012)
• The cost of monitoring management and the cost of corporate governance in relation with its benefits
• Ownership, governance and management issues in family business and SME firms (e.g. Corbetta and Montemerlo, 1999; Brunninge et al., 2007; Siebels and zu Knyphausen ‐ Aufseß, 2012)
• Macroeconomic environment, firm performance and corporate governance ratings
• Corporate governance, policy reforms and firm value in emerging economies (e.g. Young et al., 2008; Claessens and Yurtoglu, 2013)
• International corporate governance and theory of the firm (e.g. Aguilera and Crespi-Cladera, 2016)
• Emerging issues in management and governance (e.g. Filatotchev and Boyd, 2009; Filatotchev et al., 2013; Boyd et al., 2017)

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 20 January, 2018
Notification to authors: 20 April, 2018
Final versions due by: 31 May, 2018

International Journal of Aerospace System Science and Engineering to publish extended papers from ICASSE 2017

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Aerospace System Science and Engineering 2017 (26-28 July 2017, Shanghai, China) will be published by the International Journal of Aerospace System Science and Engineering.

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development to publish extended papers from ICMEM - ICIBS 2017

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets and International Conference on Innovation in Business and Strategy (26 - 28 July 2017, Bali, Indonesia) will be published by the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development.

New Editor for the International Journal of Computational Medicine and Healthcare

Prof. Ning Jackie Zhang from Seton Hall University in the USA has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Computational Medicine and Healthcare.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Learning and Change

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

• Using constructive alignment to improve student research and writing skills: a case study of a master's program in real estate management
• Exploring societal responses towards managerial prerogative in entrepreneurial universities 
• Organisation learners' competence to overcome organisation's learning inertia: a conceptual framework 
• Collective learning and path plasticity as means to regional economic resilience: the case of Stuttgart 
• The impact of a learning culture on organisational change in regional SMEs

Free sample articles newly available for International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing are now available here for free:

• A comparative study of multimodal digital map interface designs for blind users
• Predicting financial time series data using artificial immune system-inspired neural networks 
• A classifier fusion strategy to improve the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases 
• Synchronous motor speed control based on ANFIS methodology and sliding mode observer

Inderscience is media partner for 5th Annual Medical Device Global Labeling Strategies

Inderscience is a media partner for 5th Annual Medical Device Global Labeling Strategies (9 - 10 August 2017, Minneapolis, USA).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Biomedical Engineering and Technology 
• Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 
• Int. J. of Medical Engineering and Informatics 

More information on this event can be found here.

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms increases issues

The International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms has announced that it will be increasing issues from six to eight from 2018 onwards.

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Annual Human Factors Excellence for Medical Device Design

Inderscience is a media partner for 3rd Annual Human Factors Excellence for Medical Device Design (9 - 10 August 2017, Minneapolis, USA).

The journals involved are:

•  Int. J. of Biomedical Engineering and Technology
• Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 
• Int. J. of Medical Engineering and Informatics

More information on this event is available here.

Inderscience is media partner for Military Flight Training 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Military Flight Training 2017 (11 - 12 October 2017, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 
• Int. J. of Intelligent Defence Support Systems 
• Int. J. of Sustainable Aviation 
• Int. J. of Systems, Control and Communications 
• Int. J. of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing 

More information on this event is available here.

 

Call for papers: "Sustainability, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Business Ecosystems for Business Growth and Development in Emerging Markets"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development.

In the last decade, we have seen that emerging countries have been contributing to the world economy similarly to developed countries. This may show that the gap of income and wealth between emerging and developed countries has been narrowed. The important role of emerging countries is also shown by about half of G-20 members coming from emerging countries participating in developing the world economic policy. Furthermore, emerging countries such as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa have been supporting the world economy growth in the recent years. Along with these, the relatively high population growth and fast growth of the middle class income group have attracted significant capital inflow to emerging countries.

Considering the above facts, it is clear why emerging countries have become very attractive and potential markets for investors to start and establish their business there. However, penetrating emerging countries is not without risk. There have been uncertainties in these countries and globally which could affect the prospect of their business. For example, the World Bank report in 2015 shows that the growth of emerging countries has declined by about 1.8% on average from 2010 to 2013. This is caused by the slow growth of countries such as Brazil, China, India, and South Africa by about 3%. To make this worse, emerging countries such as South African countries have recorded the highest inflation rate in 2013 of about 7.6%. Furthermore, the declining of oil and commodity prices, the uncertainty of currency fluctuation, the contagion effects of regional/global crises, the capital market volatility, corruption, and the unstable legal and political conditions made investing in emerging countries is challenging.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets and International Conference on Innovation in Business and Strategy (ICMEM – ICIBS 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:

• Accounting
• Agriculture supply chain
• Corporate entrepreneurship strategy
• Creative industries dynamics and challenge
• Creativity and innovation
• Digital transformation in emerging market
• Disaster operations management
• Economic and farmer rural development
• Financial literacy and inclusion
• Halal supply chain
• Hospital operations management
• Inclusive ecosystem business
• Internationalisation from and to emerging markets
• Investment and financial risk management
• Islamic banking and finance
• Management of innovation
• Managing behaviour for business innovation
• Marketing theory and practices for emerging market
• Modelling and simulation for business decision
• New product development
• Public policies and regulations in creative industries and clusters
• Redefining company strategy for emerging market in digital era
• Retail
• Role of cooperative ecosystem for inclusive growth
• Service ecosystem on business innovation
• SME's entrepreneurship as an innovation driver
• Social interaction
• Strategic operation management
• The e-marketing role in emerging market and entrepreneurship
• The role of emerging markets in international business ecosystem

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 November, 2017

Material definition of humanity

We define human history through the materials we use: the stone age, the bronze age, the iron age. Perhaps we now live in the plastic age. The next epoch may well be the nanocomposite age. Art and architecture, transport and healthcare, the industrial revolution, the electronics revolution, and beyond all depend on materials and the formulation of novel materials in particular for their evolution.
Writing in the International Journal of Nuclear Knowledge Management, Ganesh Surwase and B.S. Kademani of the Scientific Information Resource Division, at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, in Mumbai, India, discuss the evolution of materials chemistry through a survey of almost 70000 research papers in the Scopus database published from the years 2008 to 2012.
The researchers have looked at annual growth of papers and citations, the distribution of sources of papers and citations at the international and national levels. They have also looked at publication efficiency index and activity index, the distribution of papers by institution and by which are the preferred journals in which such papers appear.
“Materials science is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering,” the team says. “This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates elements of applied physics and chemistry.”
The team reports exponential growth of the scientific literature across materials science. Almost 70000 papers were published in the field receiving almost half a million citations. Asian countries lead the way in terms of numbers of papers published followed by Europe and North America with China the most prolific nation, followed by the USA, Japan, Germany, India, and South Korea.
Surwase, G. and Kademani, B.S. (2017) ‘Global research trends in materials chemistry: a scientometric perspective’, Int. J. Nuclear Knowledge Management, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.58–71.

Free sample articles newly available from Interdisciplinary Environmental Review

The following sample articles from the Interdisciplinary Environmental Review are now available here for free:

• Evolution of coastal landforms during the Holocene Epoch along the west and southeast coasts of Sri Lanka
• Estimating recreational value of Mahatama Gandhi Marine National Park, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India 
• Insights from two case studies on the socio-economic status of women farmers in low-income societies 
• Do stringent environmental regulations cause firm relocations and job loss? A case study of the wood furniture industry in Southern California 
• 'Environmental governance' and 'ecosystem management': avenues for synergies between two approaches

Inderscience is media partner for Modeling, Simulation and Testing of Automotive Lightweight Materials Congress 2017

Inderscience is a media partner for Modeling, Simulation and Testing of Automotive Lightweight Materials Congress 2017 (26-27 July 2017, Detroit, USA).

The journals involved are:

• Int. J. of Automotive Technology and Management 
• Int. J. of Automotive Composites 
• Int. J. of Materials Engineering Innovation 
• Int. J. of Materials and Product Technology 
• Int. J. of Vehicle Design 
• Int. J. of Vehicle Noise and Vibration 
• Int. J. of Vehicle Safety

More information on this event is available here.

Call for papers: "Advances in Laser-Based Manufacturing"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems.

This special issue aims to bring researchers together to present the latest advances in the field of laser-based manufacturing processes, equipment and related systems, including process innovation, process modelling, process control and optimisation, computational modelling and data analytics.

 

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

• Reviews of current laser-based manufacturing and applications
• Novel applications of laser-based manufacturing
• New or modified laser-based manufacturing techniques
• Laser material processing system design and computer integration
• Sensor fusion and process control for laser-based manufacturing
• Mechatronics for laser-based manufacturing
• Laser forming, welding, cutting and polishing systems
• Laser-based additive manufacturing systems
• Intelligent process strategy generation and optimisation
• Decision support systems for laser-based manufacturing

 

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 September, 2017

Notification to authors: 1 November, 2017

Final versions due by: 1 December, 2017

Weaponizing the internet for terrorism

Terrorism is a fact of life (and death) as are the collectives and networks to which counter-terrorism organizations and the media have given various labels and names. These networks are well versed in exploiting modern information technology through social media awareness, marketing and recruitment campaigns. However, there is the more insidious use by terrorists groups of online networks and exploits in the creation of so-called bots (computers that have been compromised through the implementation of malware and control over which has been assumed by a third party, or more likely a third party control a lot array of such bots in a botnet.

Writing in the International Journal of Collaborative Intelligence, Emmanuel Ogu of the Department of Computer Science, at Babcock University, in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, and colleagues suggest that the problems caused by botnets in terms of interfering with infrastructure, healthcare services, transport, power supply and other critical parts of the modern world are not very different to those caused by the more familiar notion of terrorist attacks involving explosives and weapons. Events across the globe in mid-May 2017 saw the rapid and devastating spread of so-called ransomware to hospitals, companies, organizations, and individuals. Whether or not this was a specific attack by a particular group is irrelevant the impact was enormous on those waiting for healthcare attention, for instance.

A similar “attack” on an even bigger scale might see power supply outages brought about by malware-toting botnets operated by those with malicious intent where there is no simple financial extortion, rather crippling and even physically destroying infrastructure is the aim of the perpetrators.

“Fighting bots and keeping them away from network infrastructures has gradually become the nightmare of every network security professional,” the team says. Fundamentally, this is because although individual computers may be wiped of malware and systems patches or a botnet disabled, the distributed and infectious nature of the computer viruses, worms and other malware that propagate the controls with which the “botmaster” will rally the compromised computers are always being modified to counteract antivirus software. The researchers warn that research shows we are not too far away from a new wave of insurgency and terrorism that may gradually overtake the internet and many organizational network infrastructures around the world.

“Just as the secret to dismantling terrorist networks have been proven to lie in destroying the ability of the terror group to recruit, train, control and coordinate their activities (essentially by completely taking out their command and control infrastructure), the secret to ridding the internet of botnets, perhaps, also depends on similar means,” the team suggests. “Intelligence reports are useless if they do not lead to informed decisions and actions,” they add. Warnings of out of date operating systems, web browsers and email programs, unpatched computers, and the non-implementation of firewalls and antivirus software seem to be unheeded in too many cases. If those warnings are left unheeded by the users of infrastructure critical computers in healthcare, transportation, industry, power supply other areas, then the inherent vulnerabilities might be exploited by those with malicious intent repeatedly whether for financial gain, terrorist propaganda and control or both.

Ogu, E.C., Ogu, M.I. and Ogu, C. (2016) ‘Insights from terrorism intelligence and eradication efforts – Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram – for more pragmatic botnet countermeasures’, Int. J. Collaborative Intelligence, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.258–274.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Revenue Management

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

• An exploratory study of price movements along booking profiles in the airline industry in the Indian domestic market
• The relationship between personality traits and investment risk preference
• Model selection for merger and acquisition analysis in Asian emerging markets
• Mathematical model for revenue management under oligopolistic competition
• Advanced sales and competition in a service industry

Call for papers: "Advances in Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems.

This special issue aims to bring together researchers to present the latest advances in the field of additive manufacturing and 3D printing processes, equipment and related sub-systems, including process innovation, material development, process modelling, control and optimisation, digital design, computational modelling and data analysis.

 

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

• Reviews of recent additive manufacturing and 3D systems
• New or modified 3D printing and additive manufacturing processes
• In-situ process monitoring and computer integration
• Improvement of existing processes for additive manufacturing
• Sensor fusion for additive manufacturing
• Reverse engineering and product repair using additive manufacturing
• Intelligent strategy generation and optimisation
• Topology optimisation and CAD systems
• Decision support systems for material and process selection

 

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 November, 2017

Notification to authors: 1 January, 2018

Final versions due by: 1 February, 2018

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Biometrics

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

• Novel ear-assisted 3D face recognition under expression variations
• Two-level dimensionality reduced local directional pattern for face recognition
• Multimodal biometric cryptosystem based on fusion of wavelet and curvelet features in robust security application
• Multi-resolution elongated CS-LDP with Gabor feature for face recognition
• Overview and challenges of palm vein biometric system

Special issue published: "Business Diplomacy"

International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy 3(3) 2017

• Grand design of Indonesia's economic diplomacy: economic diplomacy index approach
• Black gold: corporate diplomatic ties of Maersk in Brazil
• Business diplomacy: asymmetry and symmetry of power in negotiations between multi-nationals and governments in the case of Areva and Niger 
• How do MNCs conduct business diplomacy? Exploratory study on business diplomacy instruments

Additional paper

• 264-278 Enhancing international dispute settlement: the role of sports diplomacy

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Space-Based and Situated Computing

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Space-Based and Situated Computing are now available here for free:

• Monitoring and auditing mobile operating systems
• A read-write abortion protocol to prevent illegal information flow in role-based access control systems
• The digital contents management system based on position information initiate fusion of AR and sensor technology
• A road condition monitoring system using various sensor data in vehicle-to-vehicle communication environment
• Delay tolerant networks-based vehicle-to-vehicle wireless networks for road surveillance systems in local areas
• Evaluations of commodity WiFi-based multihop access network for disaster recovery

Research Picks Extra – May 2017

When the boot’s on the other foot
A collaboration between researchers in Scotland and China could help make football sliding tackles slicker as well as reducing the risk of injury on the pitch. The researchers have tested different “stud” configurations on the outer soles of soccer footwear with experienced players to determine which is the most effective for straight ahead running, sharp turns and sidesteps. They have also looked at impact on knee loading and risk of the common anterior cruciate ligament injury that afflicts many footballers. Risk of metatarsal stress fracture and even formation of calluses was investigated. They found that footwear with firm ground design outperformed those cleat configurations designed for artificial ground design and turf when used on natural turf in terms of athletic performance. Counter to that, however, was a great risk of knee of foot injuries. In other words, at the end of the day, as ever, it’s a game of two halves when it comes to football boots.
Sun, D., Gu, Y., Mei, Q. and Baker, J.S. (2017) ‘Different soccer stud configurations effect on running and cutting movements’, Int. J. Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp.19–32

Obscuring digital fingerprints
Researchers from Japan and Norway have worked on the problem of copyright protection and specifically how a digital watermark, or fingerprint, might be transparently embedded in a digital file or multimedia object. They have tested just how well the commonly used spread spectrum fingerprinting resists “hacking” and have defined a mathematical argument for the effectiveness of the so-called moderated minority extreme (MMX) attack and offer several new ideas on how copyright holders might protect their commodities from such attacks which would otherwise facilitate untraceable file sharing facilitated by such attacks. Security through obfuscation seems to work, the team suggests, if the “pirates” are unaware of the presence of the digital fingerprint, then an attack will not be possible unless the attacker has the obfuscating key for the protection.
Schaathun, H.G. and Kuribayashi, M. (2017) ‘Obfuscation in digital fingerprinting’, Int. J. Information and Coding Theory, Vol. 4, Nos. 2/3, pp.185–200.

Personalized asthma care in the cloud
Asthma, a serious and potentially life-threatening inflammatory disorder of the lungs. Patients are often encouraged by their physician to manage their own inhaler and drug use in this disease, monitoring indicators of lung health, such as peak flow, and ensuring that they comply with their medication instructions. Researchers in India point out that electronic healthcare systems exist for the general patients of hospitals, clinics and other health centers. However, there is a growing need for e-healthcare, in the cloud, for patients of specific diseases and disorders in order to provide targeted information and recommendations. The team has now proposed an Asthma Healthcare Service Recommendation System (AHSRS) for asthma patients that works using remote servers and is accessible through cloud technology via desktop or mobile computing device, such as a tablet or smart phone. Such a system targeted at a specific disease can be more focused and avoid information overload of patients seeking advice and recommendations only for their particular condition.
Rani, A. and Kalra, S. (2017) ‘Personalised recommendation system for asthma patients using cloud’, Int. J. Telemedicine and Clinical Practices, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.100–120.

Self-sharpening tools
Ultra-precision processing in industry requires ultra-precision equipment. Unfortunately, all tools suffer from wear and tear in use. Now, a team from China has turned to nanotechnology to help them design a system for the likes of fine super-hard grinding wheel, diamond grinding wheels and carbon boron nitride grinding wheels. These abrasive tools have added fillers – zinc, calcium oxide, silica with iron chloride solution as a binder – that allow them to shed worn abrasive particles and thus undergo self-sharpening. The team suggests that this system overcomes the shortcomings of conventional metal bonded super-hard abrasive processing on hard and brittle machining materials.
Feng, K., Zhou, Z., Fan, H. and Yuan, J. (2017) ‘Experiment on self-sharpening fine super-hard abrasive tool’, Int. J. Nanomanufacturing, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.97–108.

Call for papers: "Knowledge Management Systems"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management.

Knowledge management systems (KMS) are distinct from transaction processing systems, decision support systems or expert systems because of their main mission to transform experiences into explicit knowledge within an organization or given information processing place. Experience is an important and critical part of KMS because, when individuals receive new information, the information is processed in light of past experience to develop and create new knowledge.

The objective of this special issue is to present research exploring the creation of knowledge repositories, improving knowledge assets, enhancing the knowledge environment, managing knowledge as an asset, and big data and analytics.

This special issue will aid scientists, policy makers and professionals by discussing the latest theories, state-of-the-art techniques and applications. Special emphasis will be placed on the interaction between theoretical concepts and practical implementations, the exchange between policy analysts and policy makers, and the interface between analytic concepts and human and organisational problem solvers.

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

• Techniques, methods and models in accessing big data as part of KMS
• Case studies of utilising big data in KMS initiatives
• How filtered big data results can be used continuously as organisational knowledge
• Big data and its implications for personal knowledge management
• Identifying gaps between traditional data and information approaches and the opportunities in big data
• Market analysis - systems vendors and organisational users
• New organisational big data and analytics initiatives as part of knowledge management strategy and practice
• Trends in big data - e-commerce
• M-commerce and ubiquitous commerce
• Internet of Things and big data for knowledge management

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 30 November, 2017

Call for papers: "Pervasive Participation – New Horizons for Technology-Mediated Citizen Involvement"

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

Researchers and practitioners around the world are currently exploring novel participation methods with the objective to better integrate citizens in public decision-making processes. By using contemporary technology, they aim not only to lower traditional participation barriers, but also to broaden the scope of involved citizens by trying to encourage those previously less eager to participate, such as younger generations. Particularly in urban planning, the penetration of mobile and wearable devices, with their manifold features to interact with real-world surroundings, as well as public screens or technically enriched artefacts embedded in urban surroundings provide new opportunities to collect citizen input directly on site and on the go.

This special issue will explore the concept of pervasive participation, which exploits the latest pervasive technologies such as feature-rich smart devices, wearables and sensor-equipped smart urban environments to enable novel forms of efficient and sustainable citizen involvement. Realising pervasive participation is an interdisciplinary effort and poses myriad challenges and opportunities in both technical, societal and legal terms. For example, fundamental issues involve questions of user acceptance and experience and the impact on traditional governmental decision-making processes.

This special issue seeks to attract and publish a diverse array of empirical, theoretical and critical contributions regarding pervasive participation to contribute to a better understanding of its complexity and interdisciplinary nature. The objective of the issue is to provide a timely collection of rigorous research on the design, use, integration and evaluation of pervasive participation methods and technologies.

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

• Evaluation of pervasive participation prototypes (e.g. experiences from planning and conducting; accounts of user studies and living labs)
• Methods for evaluating novel pervasive forms of citizen e-participation or assessing their impact and success (e.g. based on key indicators)
• Novel pervasive participation user interfaces (e.g. mobile, wearable) and concepts (e.g. hybrid, blended participation)
• Application of recent ICT trends such as the Internet of Things and open data for novel forms of citizen participation
• New and blended forms of pervasive participation (e.g. innovation, co-production, learning environments, crowd-funding)
• Activation, inclusiveness and diversity in pervasive participation environments (e.g. by utilising gamification and persuasion concepts)
• Technical and/or legal integration of pervasive participation in (traditional) decision-making processes
• Legal limitations and pre-requirements as foundations for new pervasive participation forms, as well as potential conflicts (e.g. arising from transparency and traceability)

Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 31 January, 2018
Notification to authors: 15 April, 2018
Final versions due: 15 June, 2018

A Note Concerning Fees and Open Access

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If you are publishing an Open Access article with us, remember that we will never request payment before your paper has been accepted.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication are now available here for free:

• Verification of the performance of respiratory synchronisation radiation switchgear by using imaging technique
• A Unity3D-based mobile fashion coordination system
• Design and implementation smart device control system based on indoor positioning
• MAP task allocation strategy in an ARM-based Hadoop cluster by using local storage as split cache
• Pedestrian-to-vehicle communication-based safety message transmission for the elderly in the conflict area
• Using circular dot pattern code tag for medical information on the round type medical package
• Swing analysis by body type with golf shot analysing device
• Unsupervised method of word sense disambiguation for real time associated word identification in human-robot interaction
• Advanced assessment model for improving effectiveness of information security measurement

Special issue published: "The Effect of Culture, Gender and Religion on Opportunity Recognition"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 31(2) 2017

• Entrepreneurial intentions from an Islamic perspective: a study of Muslim entrepreneurs in Indonesia
• Regional variation in subcultural attitudes to entrepreneurship in India
• From ethnic enclaves to transnational entrepreneurs: the American dream of the Finns in Oregon, USA 
• Does growth of ventures depend on competencies?: selected cases from India
• Jewish diaspora entrepreneurs - the impact of religion on opportunity exploration and exploitation 
• Family involvement as a catalyst for female opportunity recognition
• The impact of immigrant acculturation and job search information on entrepreneurship opportunity
• The effect of culture on opportunity recognition: a qualitative study of immigrant and native-born entrepreneurs
• Female entrepreneurship: a co-citation analysis

New Editor for International Journal of Nanomanufacturing

Prof. Jiang Zhuangde from Xi'an Jiaotong University in P. R. China has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Nanomanufacturing.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems are now available here for free:

• Automated generation of minimal cut sets from AltaRica 3.0 models
• The applications of SFTA and SFMEA approaches during software development process: an analytical review
• Supporting SW-FMEA through an ontology-based methodology

Call for papers: "Entrepreneurship and Sustainability: A Skill India Perspective"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management.

There is a strong paradox between economic growth and sustainability. Sustainable development aims at balancing current needs and the needs of the future generations. Effects of growth ranging from climate change to resource depletion are hampering the ecosystem.

Nations, companies and individuals are recognising the urgency of achieving sustainability. The real food for thought here is whether economic development and sustainability can coexist or are in fact mutually exclusive.

Entrepreneurial intervention in the current economic scenario is a great contributor to the growth of economies. The recent Skill India initiative is focused on motivating budding entrepreneurs. Undoubtedly, campaigns like Skill India are encouraging entrepreneurs and contributing to economic development. However, the major research domain pertaining to this area explores whether or not the issue of sustainability is being considered simultaneously.

This special issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 3rd International Research Conference on Entrepreneurship: A Skill India Perspective, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Some examples of relevant themes and research questions that may be considered include, but not limited to, the following:

• What is the role of entrepreneurship in fostering sustainable development?
• How will the Skill India initiative contribute to sustainable development?
• What kind of business models, strategies and innovations would aid in coping with the sustainability issues around the world?
• What is the role of entrepreneurs in sustainable development?
• What type of entrepreneurial activities would foster sustainable development?
• How do IT innovations and processes help in dealing with climate change and sustainability issues arising due to resource depletion?
• What is the role of innovative management practices and strategies in resolving sustainability issues? These may include perspectives from marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, operations and other subjects of management studies.

Important DatesManuscripts due by: 20 July, 2017
Notification to authors: 15 September, 2017
Final versions due: 15 November, 2017

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning

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

• The current landscape of international blended learning
• The role of simulation software in enhancing students' academic performance: a restaurant management case
• All-in-one: impact study of an online math game for educational purposes
• How web 2.0 and social media are changing public relations practitioners' work: a qualitative study
• Can online student performance be forecasted by learning analytics?
• An exploration of the contexts, challenges and competencies of pre-teenage children on the internet

Call for papers: "IoT Services for Trustworthy Secured Crowd Sourcing Applications"

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

Due to advancements in technology, the real world requires improvements in state-of-art services that can aid tremendous increases in computational power for the purpose of providing ground-breaking service delivery. This kind of increased computational power for smart devices could be provided by the Internet of Things (IoT). When these kinds of devices are used, there is a huge transfer of information resulting in usage of services and methodologies that could enable instant access with high quality, high security and reduced complexity.

 

To achieve such a speedy experience, methods related to big data, cloud, etc. can be used to make these services work seamlessly. Recent services provided by IoT are requests related to logistics, financial services, healthcare services, educational services, online purchasing, smart cities, etc., which help in getting the services carried out with limited time and effort. Furthermore, analysing such huge data can also help in knowing the choices of the population, along with their ratings and feedback regarding the services provided.

 

The usage of smartphones and wearable devices has encouraged a great shift from big data to crowd sourcing applications in IoT. The data collected through these mobile devices could be further used for analysis and then processed to aid intelligent decisions and services.

 

With the increased usage of these intelligent and interconnected devices in our daily lives, high trust, security and privacy are required. Hence data trust, privacy of data provider, attack identification and so on are research issues contributing to the achievement of high quality of service when data is collected, transmitted, selected, processed, analysed, mined and utilised. Though various novel solutions are offered, there are still unresolved challenges in the area of services provided by IoT and the trust, security and privacy of crowd sourcing applications in IoT.

 

This special issue aims to bring researchers, academicians and practitioners together to discuss the applications, state-of-art methodologies and real-time solutions for overcoming the challenges in IoT-based services in relation to aspects of trust, security and privacy in crowd sourcing, and to explore key technologies and innovative new solutions for overcoming the major challenges in this research filed.

 

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

• Smart cities and smart homes
• Power grid, energy efficiency systems, applications and services
• Health monitoring and smart health applications
• Weather data analysis, visualisation and real case studies
• Spark/Advanced MapReduced; Large-scale NoSQL services; integrations between Spark/MapReduced and NoSQL
• Large-scale traffic control systems, algorithms and services
• Financial and business intelligence services and applications
• Supply chain computation, applications and services
• Innovative big data processing for IoT
• Security, privacy and trust
• Mobile applications, services and integrations
• Complex information systems: case studies and real deliveries
• Real-use cases and research contributions to industry
• Trust evaluation and management
• Truth discovery in huge volumes of unconnected data
• Big data trust and reputation enhancement mechanisms
• Security threat detection theories and technologies
• Crowdsourcing applications with privacy and security protection

 

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 31 July, 2017

Notification to authors: 30 October, 2017

Final versions due by: 30 December, 2017