31 October 2018

Special issue published: "Strategies for Global Competitiveness and Economic Growth"

International Journal of Business and Globalisation 21(4) 2018
  • An evidence of Feldstein-Horioka puzzle in selected Asian economies
  • Work-family conflict and intention to quit: the mediating role of emotional dissonance
  • Perception of advisors' regarding behaviour of investors' while selecting wealth management services: an AHP approach
  • Factors leading to adoption of video on demand service: an exploratory study
  • Tourism led economic growth in India: an application of vector error correction model
  • Assessment potential of community enterprises to enhance their sustainable competitive advantage in Thailand
  • Understanding work values of Gen Y - a study on differences based on country of origin, gender and industry
  • The asymmetric information risks; between the classical financing formulas and the Islamic financial industry

Special issue published: "Issues in Banking and International Finance"

International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance 11(5) 2018
  • Central bank communication and transparency: the ECB and the European Parliament
  • The magnitude of the macroeconomic impact of oil price: the case of BRICS
  • Unconventional monetary policies and the credit market
  • On the effect of Cournot and Stackelberg competition in the banking sector on the investment cycle
  • Can countries lobby for foreign direct investment? Evidence from the US

Special issue published: "Novel Strategies for Programming Accelerators"

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering 17(3) 2018
  • Evaluating attainable memory bandwidth of parallel programming models via BabelStream
  • Array streaming for array programming
  • Applicability of the software cost model COCOMO II to HPC projects
  • Porting the MPI-parallelised LES model PALM to multi-GPU systems and many integrated core processors - an experience report
  • Task based Cholesky decomposition on Xeon Phi architectures using OpenMP
  • Online multi-label learning with cost-sensitive budgeted SVM
  • Populating parameters of web services by automatic composition using search precision and WSDL weight matrix
  • Fast elliptic curve scalar multiplication for resisting against SPA

Research pick: Cloudy economic outlook - "Does adoption of cloud computing matter? The economic worth of cloud computing implementation"

There has been a considerable amount of hyperbole expounded around the topic of cloud computing. However, it is a paradigm that offers many benefits to those with limited computing resources or simply a need to shift the processing and data storage to external systems and reap the benefits of distributed, networked tools and memory.

Now, Aurelia Nicholas-Donald of Virginia State University Petersburg and Mo Adam Mahmood and Laura Lunstrum of Trevino University of Texas at El Paso, USA, have asked the provocative question: “Does adoption of cloud computing matter?”. Writing in the International Journal of Information Systems and Management, they reveal their findings regarding the economic worth of the implementation of cloud computing and how that might affect the market value of a company.

The team used a resource-based view and the efficient market hypothesis to analyse a sample of 136 companies on the US stock exchanges that use cloud computing. Intriguingly, the team found that announcements regarding cloud computing aspirations or executions are actually associated with a drop in market returns, although scientifically speaking these returns are not statically significant. However, the trading volume and the risk of these companies did show a significant increase and both were found to be statistically significant in the face of cloud computing announcements.

The researchers suggest that the stock market reaction is mixed. “The key features affiliated with cloud computing, such as lower startup costs, less training requirement, ease of governance, and ease of maintenance appears to impact the financial outlook of the firm,” they explain. However, “The significant increase in volume reflects that investors see the adoption of cloud computing as a means for enhancing the abilities of a business,” the team reports.

“We believe the present research shows that cloud computing adoption does provide financial benefits to the adopting firms,” the team concludes.

Nicholas-Donald, A., Mahmood, M.A. and Trevino, L.L. (2018) ‘Does adoption of cloud computing matter? The economic worth of cloud computing implementation‘, Int. J. Information Systems and Management, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.328-342.

30 October 2018

Special issue published: "Machine Learning and Development of Complex Systems"

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 13(6) 2018
  • Morphology-based visible-infrared image fusion framework for smart city
  • Three-dimensional pedestrian dead reckoning method based on gait recognition
  • Travel pattern modelling and future travel behaviour prediction based on GMM and GPR
  • DEVSServer: ambient intelligence and DEVS modelling-based simulation server for epidemic modelling
  • Finite-time synchronisation of memristive hyperchaotic circuit based on Lorenz system with transmission delay
  • An interactive, interoperable and ubiquitous mixed reality application for a smart learning experience
  • Agent-based modelling and simulation of task execution and coordination in distributed organisations: the psychosocial dynamic interaction perspective

Free sample articles newly available from Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal

The following sample articles from Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal are now available here for free:
  • Climatology in Mauritius 1983-2005: potential solar radiation modulation by Quasi-Biennial oscillation and El NiƱo-Southern oscillation
  • The diversity-logistics hypothesis: how animals and manufacturers stand to reduce inbound logistics and inventory costs through diversity
  • Emerging approaches for industrial sustainability and feasible applications in India
  • A computer algebra system approach in gene expression analysis
  • A Green information technology governance framework for eco-environmental risk mitigation
  • On the comparative financial and risk analysis of urban development projects: the case of Athens' Hellinikon airport
  • Exploring perceptions on the importance of corporate social responsibility in industrial areas

Special issue published: "Schumpeterian Perspectives on Entrepreneurship"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 35(3) 2018
  • Approaching indirectly to complementors and taking neutral position in platform: exploratory research on the progression from a start-up to a platform leader
  • A comparison of the performance of majority female-owned and majority male-owned small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Female top management in family firms and non-family firms: evidence from total population data
  • Research on Korean female entrepreneurs for the last two decades: past trends and future opportunities
  • Experiences using a science-based Lean LaunchPad program and its impact on national innovation system evolution
  • Human capital in the entrepreneurship ecosystem
  • The limited innovation of small businesses in the solar photovoltaic sector in the USA: is small business innovation research program such a boon for US small businesses?
  • Profitable growth through international high-technology product and market development
  • Drones, dangerous animals and peeping Toms: impact of imposed vs. organic regulation on entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth
  • Innovation, networks and the paradigm of biofuels

Research pick: Objective schizophrenia diagnosis - "Optimising brain map for the diagnosis of schizophrenia"

The diagnosis of the mental disorder schizophrenia is a highly subjective and qualitative process. If a patient presents with particular characteristic symptoms such as false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing internal voices, poor social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation, then a diagnosis might be made. Usually, a psychiatrist will, after several sessions of assessment and interviews with the patient and those who know them, conclude that the patient has the condition. Despite the confused public perception of this mental disorder, schizophrenia is not “split personality” nor dissociative identity disorder.

Now, Reza Boostani of Shiraz University and Malihe Sabeti of the Islamic Azad University, in Shiraz, Iran, have developed an approach that could lead to an objective diagnosis of schizophrenia. The approach aims to preclude the misdiagnosis of other psychotic disorders such as schizoaffective or delusional disorder, which have similar clinical manifestations.

The team has developed a quantitative diagnosis tool in the form of a novel brain map based on electroencephalogram (EEG). The proposal is that this brain map will reveal the schizophrenic-dependent changes which are spatially distributed over the brain of patients with this specific condition rather than others with which it is often confused. The team used a genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and ant colony optimization to analyse the EEGs and to create the brain map that allowed for an objective diagnosis with more than 80 percent accuracy under experimental conditions.

Of three approaches, PSO was the most effective, the team reports. Indeed, this technique revealed all the differences which are revealed by sophisticated brain scans, such as positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and computerized tomography (CT). The next step will be to test the approach on a larger sample of patients and to examine the effects of medication on their EEGs and how this might confound the analysis.

Boostani, R. and Sabeti, M. (2018) ‘Optimising brain map for the diagnosis of schizophrenia‘, Int. J. Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp.105-119.

26 October 2018

Research pick: Automated liver cancer detection - "Adaptive fuzzy clustering-based texture analysis for classifying liver cancer in abdominal CT images"

The examination of CT scans (computerised tomography scans), which are essentially a type of X-ray image can be used to provide clinicians with a detail view of our internal organs often of the diagnosis of various forms of cancer. The use of CT in liver cancer diagnostics is stymied to some degree by the variations of liver shape and structure between individuals and the similarity of tissues in adjoining organs in the CT image.

Now, Amita Das of the Institute of Technical Education and Research, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, in Odisha, and colleagues in the Department of Surgical Oncology there, the SCB Medical College and Hospital, and the Department of Electronics Engineering, at DY Patil Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, India, have developed a new technique – adaptive fuzzy clustering-based texture analysis – for the segmentation of abdominal CT scans for classifying liver cancer. The approach is based on extracting texture, morphological, and statistical features from the scans and using them as the input for a neural network classifier to distinguish between malignant and benign tumours of the liver.

They have now tested their approach with a series of 45 images and looked at sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The team was able to achieve an accuracy of almost 99% in detecting tumours, which they say is comparable with published results. The next step would be to feed and train the system with even more data and so improve the reliability of the technique still further and so allow an automated diagnostic approach that does not have the potential for human error to be developed.

Das, A., Das, P., Panda, S.S. and Sabut, S. (2018) ‘Adaptive fuzzy clustering-based texture analysis for classifying liver cancer in abdominal CT images’, Int. J. Computational Biology and Drug Design, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp.192–208.

25 October 2018

Research pick: Enhanced oil recovery with nanoparticles - "Efficiency of nano-water/gas alternating injection technique to enhance oil recovery in an oil field"

A mixture of nanoparticles and water can be used in the nano-water alternating gas approach (NWAG) to enhance oil recovery from an oil field. Now, the wettability of rock, relative permeability curves, and the interfacial tension has been analysed by a team from Oman with a view to improving the process.

Manal Al-Matroushi, Peyman Pourafshary, and Yahya Al-Wahaibi of the Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Department at Sultan Qaboos University and Nader Mosavat of the Oil and Gas Research Centre there explain that the gradual depletion of oil reserves has led to worldwide attention on how we might improve current enhanced oil recovery techniques. Changing the wettability of carbonate rock, which is less permeable, fractured, and oil-wet, is one way forward. Indeed, steam, gas, or chemicals can be injected to alter the fluid-fluid and rock-fluid structures by modifying interfacial tension, wettability, the mobility ratio and permeability and so allow more oil to be recovered. In a more exacting approach, water and gas are injected alternately to improve efficiency.

The addition of water-repellant silica nanoparticles to the formulation leads to their forming a coating on the rock and this improves wettability. The team has now shown that using “nano-water” instead of water alone in the wetting cycle of the process enhances oil recovery. Indeed, they found that in a six-month-long cycle with five months of nano-water and one-month carbon dioxide gas injection that oil recovery rose by 13% compared to conventional alternative water and gas enhancement.

Al-Matroushi, M., Pourafshary, P., Al-Wahaibi, Y. and Mosavat, N. (2018) ‘Efficiency of nano-water/gas alternating injection technique to enhance oil recovery in an oil field’, Int. J. Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp.149–162.

24 October 2018

Research pick: Entropy and the engines of search - "Entropy a new measure to gauge search engine optimisation"

Entropy, a term loosely referring to the disorder of a physical system and infamously associated with the Second Law of Thermodynamics, wherein we know that it ultimately increases in any closed system, might be used as to gauge something altogether different in the digital world – search engine optimisation.

S. Lakshmi of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, at RVS College of Engineering, in Dindigul, B. Sathiyabhama of the Department of Computer Science Engineering, at Sona College of Technology, in Salem, and K. Batri of the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, at the PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, also in Dindigul, India, have attempted to analyse and measure the uncertainty associated with the relevant document selection in web-search engines.

Search engine entropy is thus important not only for the efficiency of search engines and those using them to find relevant information as well as to the success of the companies and other bodies running such systems but also to those who run websites hoping to be found and visited following a search. Search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses a multitude of strategies a website owner might employ in their efforts to ensure that their website reaches a higher position in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The team explains how they are using entropy to add a metric to the number of index terms, and their frequency and how this influences the relevance calculation carried out by search engine algorithms. “The variation in term frequency either in processed web documents or in users’ query influences the relevance calculation,” the team explains. “This,” they suggest, “leads to an uncertainty associated with the document selection, and it is relevance calculation.” As such, a measure of entropy can be made by varying the documents’ term frequency or user’s query term frequency to reveal how SEO might be carried out. The team has successfully tested their entropic approach to SEO against two of the most well-known search engines Bing and Google.

Lakshmi, S., Sathiyabhama, B. and Batri, K. (2018) ‘Entropy a new measure to gauge search engine optimisation’, Int. J. Enterprise Network Management, Vol. 9, Nos. 3/4, pp.189–204

23 October 2018

Research Pick: From bread to Turkish delight - "Hope and patience as coping mechanisms of food managers in the face of challenges: the Turkish case"

Riots in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 lasted two months and had a significant and ongoing impact on Turkey’s social, cultural and economic life. A study by Mehmet Ali Turkmenoglu of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Mus Alparslan University suggests that the multi-layered crisis seriously affected food sector businesses in the neighbourhood around the park. He has interviewed dozens of managers in this sector to find out how they coped with the problems and how they are addressing the long-term issues that arose from the riots.

His survey of managers reveals that there were two main psychological copying mechanisms that food sector managers used. The first was simply being hopeful about the future and the second being patient against the multiple challenges they were facing including those surrounding emotional, physical, interpersonal and financial problems that emerged.

“Many managers stated that they consider their shops as ekmek teknesi (their bread and butter),” Turkmenoglu explains. He adds that “managers endured challenges by keeping this notion in their minds.” Motivation was also found in the proverb “umut fakirin ekmeğidir” – hope is the poor man’s bread.

Turkmenoglu, M.A. (2018) ‘Hope and patience as coping mechanisms of food managers in the face of challenges: the Turkish case’, Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp.209–223.

19 October 2018

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:
  • Beliefs towards sales promotion technique: the perspective of Malaysia emerging market
  • Total quality management barriers: Malaysia's SME perspective
  • Performance analysis of inventory models, distribution and transportation networks in forward supply chain: a theoretical approach
  • Smart cards in public transportation: spatial platforms, diffusion and externality creation
  • Regression modelling analysis of the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction: a case of tourist agricultural farm
  • Production planning optimisation and challenges in steel production: SSAB process review
  • The contribution of knowledge management process capability on supply chain performance: a general review in Malaysia

Special issue published: "Measuring Efficiency in the Service Industries: Models, Methods and Applications"

International Journal of Engineering Management and Economics 6(2/3) 2018
  • Franchisee's perspective on factors influencing relationship development and performance in the Indian wellness industry
  • An odds-ratio approach for handling proportional and bounded values in data envelopment analysis
  • Performance evaluation and benchmarking of Indian electricity distribution utilities using data envelopment analysis along with sensitivity analysis
  • Longitudinal targets and persistent inefficiency in data envelopment analysis
  • A comparative analysis of quantitative-based methods used for lean index assessment
  • Maintenance and reinvestment policies: framework and principles
  • Technology transfer in construction management: a case of partnership between Nigeria and China

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Integrated Supply Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Integrated Supply Management are now available here for free:
  • The strategic view of supply chain management and its association with risk
  • Strategy alignment in purchasing and supply management: a systematic literature review and research framework on the performance impact
  • Simulation-based single vs. dual sourcing analysis in the supply chain with consideration of capacity disruptions, big data and demand patterns
  • Interactive adaptive particle swarm optimisation for optimal global supply chain design

Research pick: Addressing cyber security - "Malicious URL detection with feature extraction based on machine learning"

A new approach to detecting the addresses of potentially malicious websites that might compromise an individual or corporate computing environment is being developed by researchers in China. The approach avoids a simplistic analysis based on keywords in the address, the URL (uniform resource locator) and instead uses statistical analyses based on gradient learning and feature extraction to feed the machine learning of an algorithm that can quickly detect malicious website addresses.

Baojiang Cui, Shanshan He, and Peilin Shi of Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications worked with Xi Yao of QIHU 360 Software Co. Limited on the study and report details in the International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking.

The approach has been validated against the naĆÆve Bayes, decision tree, and support vector machine (SVM) and found to be efficient and to have an accuracy rate of 98.7%. Moreover, the team reports that their system is in practical use and analyzing approximately 2 terabytes of data every day automatically classifying URLs as benign or malicious and blocking access to the latter. The system does not defer to a blacklist of sites as have other security approaches nor does it rely on any single characteristic of the URL being tested.

The approach, the team says, represents “a comprehensive approach that utilises all the features of machine learning.” They hope to be able to improve the accuracy to close to 99.99% by better keyword analysis and the extraction of additional features. The same technique might also be used to identify other types of web attack that appear not only in URLs but also in user agent strings, cookies, and other features of internet traffic.

Cui, B., He, S., Yao, X. and Shi, P. (2018) ‘Malicious URL detection with feature extraction based on machine learning’, Int. J. High Performance Computing and Networking, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.166–178.

18 October 2018

Special issue published: "Services and Computing in Edge Computing"

International Journal of Web and Grid Services 14(4) 2018
  • Efficient request assignment algorithm in mobile cloud computing environment
  • Blockchain challenges and opportunities: a survey
  • Cross-lingual analysis of English and Chinese web search
  • Ļ€SOD-M: building SOC applications in the presence of non-functional requirements

Research pick: Power from the people - "Community renewables in the UK – a clash of cultures?"

Emissions reduction and decarbonisation targets are two common phrases on the political agenda of governments around the world. Jelte Harnmeijer of the University of Edinburgh, David Toke of the University of Aberdeen, and Bill Slee of the James Hutton Institute, in Aberdeen discuss these concepts in the context of UK community renewables policy and uptake and the differences between Scotland, England and Wales.

They suggest that until very recently, most of the community renewable capacity (in terms of megawatts of electrical power) has been seen in Scotland rather than England and Wales. This, the team explains, is perhaps due to the more egalitarian approaches taken in organising community renewables in Scotland, whereas an individualistic approach has been adopted in England and Wales. The presence of “communitarian” local institutions in Scotland that are not seen in England and Wales might underpin this difference.

However, the team says, trends towards community renewables policy are moving towards a more hierarchical modality. They point out that governments are now stressing the advantages of partnering community renewable initiatives with commercial renewable energy schemes. Their study points to how “community energy might present a clear example of a domain that benefits from bespoke, fit-for-purpose, regional policymaking that furthermore leaves appropriate space for local institutional innovation.”

Harnmeijer, J., Toke, D. and Slee, B. (2018) ‘Community renewables in the UK – a clash of cultures?’, Int. J. Technology Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.99–120.

17 October 2018

New Editor for International Journal of Granular Computing, Rough Sets and Intelligent Systems

Dr. Liang Zhou from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Granular Computing, Rough Sets and Intelligent Systems.

Research pick: Simulating nuclear safety - "Estimation of radioactivity released from CHASNUPP-1 nuclear power plant during loss of coolant accident"

Commercial operation of the CHASNUPP-1 996 megawatt intermediate type pressurised water reactor began in May 2000 in Pakistan. It is a conventional two-loop PWR and is run by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Now, scientists Khurram Mehboob and Mohammad Aljohani of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia have carried out simulations of the activity of the unit using MATLAB to probe the risks associated with a putative coolant leak that might see radioactivity entering the environment. The team reports details of their study in the International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology.

The researchers point out that as energy demands growing around the world, there is a pressing need to meet this demand and nuclear power or sustainable sources can provide the alternatives that avoid the burning of fossil fuels. However, there are perennial concerns with the operation of nuclear power stations and the associated risks of radiation leaks that might be caused by human error, systems failure, accident, or even criminal activity.

Mehboob and Aljohani have used a kinetic model in MATLAB to simulate the anticipated amount of radioactivity that might be released from the CHASNUPP-1 nuclear power plant in the form of contaminated coolant following an accident leading to core damage. The model suggests that leakage would be similar to another reactor the South Korean KORI-1 reactor and that the containment would be sufficient to preclude anything but negligible leakage into the outside world. Given the potential global impact of a leak from a nuclear reactor anywhere in the world, it is important to model worst-case scenarios and to understand the implications for the local and wider environment.

Mehboob, K. and Aljohani, M.S. (2018) ‘Estimation of radioactivity released from CHASNUPP-1 nuclear power plant during loss of coolant accident’, Int. J. Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.111–126

16 October 2018

Research pick: Walkability of the urban environment - "An agent-based model to explore urban policies, pedestrian behaviour and walkability"

Researchers from Greece and France have worked together to use an agent-based methodology to research pedestrian behaviour and to help them develop a decision support system for urban planners hoping to improve “walkability” of the built environment. Writing in the International Journal of Decision Support Systems, Georgios Tsaples of the University of Macedonia, in Thessaloniki and Giovanna Fancello of the UniversitĆ© Paris Dauphine, explain how pedestrian accessibility in our cities is one of the most important aspects of developing urban public policies.

In recent years, pedestrian accessibility has received attention from research fields as diverse as medicine, social and environmental sciences, engineering, healthcare, and the arts and humanities. To be effective, such research has to consider more than transport, the distances involved, services, and activities, but must also take a dynamic view of how people interact with the environment, each other, and traffic within the city. However, as the team points out, “rarely [are] dynamic methods used with the aim of analysing and estimating the processes that influence the behaviour of individuals in space and in time.” They add that this is something a multi-agent model can do.

The team has now used a computational technique known as agent-based modelling to simulate an urban environment and the movement of people within it and the various modes of transport available to them. Their approach encodes the people, the “agents”, and their interactions in simple rules, which then allows the team to predict the outcomes of those interactions.

Ultimately, the models revealed by studying different scenarios, that improving the urban environment people is conducive to people walking more and parts of the environment become favourite places for walking. Moreover, walking behaviour has a positive effect on the individuals and even the economic activity of the city, the team found. The next step will be to assimilate real behaviour in different environments and to improve the models still further to make more definitive predictions about urban human behaviour and guide policymakers and town planners with greater precision.

Tsaples, G. and Fancello, G. (2018) ‘An agent-based model to explore urban policies, pedestrian behaviour and walkability’, Int. J. Decision Support Systems, Vol. 3, Nos. 1/2, pp.4–18.

15 October 2018

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Intelligent Internet of Things Computing

Internet of Things computing still faces many challenges due to key factors such as constant mobility, limited capability, restricted power and uncertain security. Such factors pose considerable problems for both service provision and consumption. The International Journal of Intelligent Internet of Things Computing therefore aims to promote advances in IoT services and new AI algorithms and techniques in the intelligent computing field, with emphasis on foundational theory, systems and practical real-life applications.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Services, Economics and Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management are now available here for free:
  • Perception of faculty members on factors affecting quality education and employability skills in technical education sector: an empirical analysis
  • CAPEX efficiency and service quality improvement via tower sharing in the Indonesian telecommunication industry: optimisation model using comparison of genetic algorithm and simulated annealing methods
  • What values are perceived by hotel guests?
  • A comparative study of two Thai franchises in international expansion
  • Implementation of technology for business cluster management: a prototype of sharing economy among customs broker SMEs in Thailand
  • The moderating role of service innovation on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer value: a case of 3-star hotels in Jakarta
  • Evaluating competitiveness of the convention destination: a primary stakeholders' perspective in Chiang Mai City, Thailand

12 October 2018

Research pick: A flight of fancy - "Consumer willingness to pay for new airports that use renewable resources"

Given the environmental pressures that society faces today, is there room for the concept of an eco-airport? And, if so, might airline passengers be willing to pay more to fly from such an airport if it means that the environmental impact and the carbon footprint of their journey are somehow offset by the airport’s “green” credentials? Researchers in the USA have carried out a study with over 1100 participants in an attempt to find out.

They found that most participants were willing to pay for the development of a green airport if it was to have significant environmental benefits. Indeed, anger and disgust were felt towards the idea of having to for a new airport that did not use renewable resources. The team reports that “As awareness of climate change, and its consequences, continues to grow, support for eco-friendly practices have steadily increased. Current behavioural trends indicate that consumers favour eco-friendly businesses utilising green initiatives.”

The team suggests that the findings should be reflected in new design procedures for future airports and even for the upgrading of existing airports. “Developers can [thus] accommodate a changing attitude in the current and future society while cutting operational costs,” the team concludes.

Walters, N.W., Rice, S., Winter, S.R., Baugh, B.S., Ragbir, N.K., Anania, E.C., Capps, J. and Milner, M.N. (2018) ‘Consumer willingness to pay for new airports that use renewable resources’, Int. J. Sustainable Aviation, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.79–98.

11 October 2018

Research pick: Tissue engineering with natural hybrids - "Collagen/chitosan hybrid 3D-scaffolds as potential biomaterials for tissue engineering"

Chitosan is a natural substance extracted from the chitin shells of crustacean. It is a linear polysaccharide comprising randomly distributed deacetylated glucosamine units and acetylated units. It has been the focus of much research in materials science for medical device applications for many years because of its biocompatibility and the potential for it to be bio-absorbed by the body given sufficient time. Similarly, collagen is another natural material, a connective tissue protein found in animals’ bodies. It too has been the target of much research given its strength and structural properties. However, collagen shows rapid biodegradation.

Now, a team from Costa Rica has developed a hybrid material from chitosan and collagen, which they suggest combines the useful properties of both materials synergistically. They say it can be fabricated into highly porous three-dimensional solids with almost any shape that can then serve as 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Living cells can grow on and within such a scaffold and the product might be used to create implant as prosthetic devices for a wide range of medical problems as well as biocompatible wound-healing materials.

The team reports that the hybrid 3D scaffold material has “improved stability, greater porosity, increased thermal stability, and mechanical properties, as well higher biodegradation as compared to single 3D scaffolds.” The team has now demonstrated that their scaffold materials can support the attachment of living cells, promote their growth, and differentiation, making them a good candidate for tissue engineering applications.

UreƱa-Saborio, H., Alfaro-Viquez, E., Esquivel-Alvarado, D., Esquivel, M. and Madrigal-Carballo, S. (2018) ‘Collagen/chitosan hybrid 3D-scaffolds as potential biomaterials for tissue engineering’, Int. J. Nano and Biomaterials, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp.163–175.

10 October 2018

Research pick: Dredging the Data Lake - "Using knowledge management to create a Data Hub and leverage the usage of a Data Lake"

Data lakes allow information to be added to a system without pre-processing or modelling. Contrast this with a conventional database where data must be delivered in a much more refined and formal manner. Thus a data lake offers much timelier speed of entry. However, as research from Brazil shows, even though a data lake preserves highest granularity level of the data, that useful flexibility can be problematic too. “If not managed, it is easy to lose control of the repository because of the volume it holds and its growth,” the team explains.

The researchers explain further that data lakes carry none of the semantics of a conventional database, but while this can be advantageous in avoiding certain types of bias when re-extracting and analyzing days, it does mean that understanding the contents of the data lake can become a rather cumbersome task. This, the team suggests, has perhaps undermined the widespread adoption and use of data lakes within the corporate environment and stymied acceptance of this useful tool because of certain misconceptions regarding how they might be used in data science efforts.

The team has now turned to knowledge management models to help them address the issues associated with data lake use and to enrich the data floating within to enhance information usability. They also add that through the use of a data portal platform and associated metadata they reason that their approach would provide easy access to the data lake maintaining and boosting its usefulness and precluding its denigration into a so-called data swamp.

Ferreira, M.C., dos Santos, F.B., Barbosa, C.E. and de Souza, J.M. (2018) ‘Using knowledge management to create a Data Hub and leverage the usage of a Data Lake’, Int. J. Knowledge Management Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp.260–277.

9 October 2018

Research pick: Sewage to fuel - "Evaluation of biodiesel potential of sewage sludge"

Human waste is a big problem, but might it be turned to our advantage, offering a sustainable source of biofuels to usurp oil-derived petrochemicals? An international collaboration in Africa has assessed the potential of extracting lipids (fatty molecules) from sewage sludge and converting those fatty compounds into the kind of compounds that can be blended with conventional fuels for use in vehicles of all kinds.

The team tested the process by extracting lipids from dried sewage sludge using the soxhlet extraction technique. They then carried out a conversion to biodiesel acid catalysis transesterification to make the requisite fatty acid methyl esters. They used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to test the product. The materials contained a high lipid yield of almost 80 percent and the biodiesel properties considered conformed to global specifications, the team reports.
“Sewage sludge could serve as an alternative and a cheap feedstock for biodiesel development,” the team concludes.

Obisanya, J.F., Oyekunle, J.A.O., Ogunfowokan, A.O. and Fatoki, O.S. (2018) ‘Evaluation of biodiesel potential of sewage sludge’, Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 22, Nos. 1/2/3/4, pp.61–73.

8 October 2018

Special issue published: "Advances in Machine Tools and Monitoring Systems"

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems 11(4) 2018
  • Diversity of assembly error migration and its solution model for heavy duty machine tool
  • Experimental investigation on surface quality in ultrasonic vibration assisted high speed grinding of BK7 optical glass
  • Background texture suppression and defect extraction of high-speed milling surface image
  • Characterisation for differential wear between left and right flank faces in turning large pitch internal thread
  • Synthesis and characterisation of AlMgB14 and AlMgB14-Ni3Al composites
  • Characteristics of the self-organisation in high-speed turning of high-strength alloy steel

Inderscience journals to invite expanded papers from 8th Global Conference on Global Warming 2019 for potential publication

Extended versions of papers presented at the 8th Global Conference on Global Warming (22-25 April 2019, Doha, Qatar) will be invited for review and potential publication by the following journals:

7 October 2018

Special issue published: "Exploring Emerging Verticals in the Future of Wireless Technology"

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations 19(2/3/4) 2018
  • A full-featured efficient clustering mechanism for improving QoS in MANETs
  • ASD: emotions and behavioural-based interventions through social sensor networks
  • Malicious node identification routing and protection mechanism for vehicular ad-hoc network against various attacks
  • Relay node selection with energy efficient routing using hidden Markov model in wireless sensor networks
  • Network lifetime estimation of wireless sensor networks using communication protocols with non-parametric models
  • Combined vibration and RF harvester technique for energy management in sensor device
  • DTCF: deadline task consolidation first for energy minimisation in cloud data centres
  • SIP-based VoIP anomaly detection engine using DTV and ONR
  • Classifying the malware application in the Android-based smart phones using ensemble-ANFIS algorithm
  • Hybrid model for enhancement of passenger information management system
  • Energy-based efficient authenticated routing protocol for MANETs for DDOS attacks with minimised power consumption
  • Energy aware clustered load balancing in cloud computing environment
  • Semantic clustering approach for documents in distributed system framework with multi-node setup
  • Research on the intellectual traffic flow control system based on multi-agent along with self-governing vehicle and system of wireless sensor network
  • A novel framework for very high resolution remote sensing image change detection
  • Certain investigations on effective rate adaptation in cognitive radio with channel characteristics
  • A secure communication over wireless sensor devices using intelligent arrival estimation algorithm

6 October 2018

Special issue published: "A Collaborative Community of Leaders: Cloud Computing in Education"

International Journal of Cloud Computing 7(3/4) 2018
  • Cloud-based environment in support of IoT education
  • Extreme value analysis for capacity design
  • A formal model towards scientific workflow security in a cloud
  • A tale of two cloud analytics platforms for education
  • A framework for achieving the required degree of multitenancy isolation for deploying components of a cloud-hosted service
  • Why is garbage collection causing my service level objectives to fail?
  • SECross: securing cross cloud boundary
  • Systematic performance evaluation using component-in-the-loop approach

5 October 2018

Special issue published: "Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing – Part I"

International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering 7(3/4) 2018
  • Simulation investigation of temperature distribution in large aluminium panel during autoclave age forming process
  • Plastic deformation and microstructure evolution of bearing ring blank during cold rolling process
  • The austenitic peak stress model of low alloy steel at elevated temperature based on the valence electron theory
  • Hot deformation behaviour and Hansel-Spittel constitutive model of Cr5 alloy for heavy backup roll
  • Microstructures evolution and mechanical properties of 5052 aluminium alloy processed by constrained groove pressing
  • Numerical simulation of residual stress in low temperature colossal carburised layer on austenitic stainless steel
  • Evaluation of ductile fracture model in bulk forming
  • Simulation of the bite condition of AZ31 sheet rolling
  • Thermo-mechanical analysis in SAE-AISI 1524 carbon steel gas tungsten arc welds

Inderscience journals to invite expanded papers from 4th Asia International Conference for potential publication

Extended versions of papers presented at the 4th Asia International Conference (8-9 December 2018, Langkawi, Malaysia) will be invited for review and potential publication by the following journals:

Special issue published: "Recent Advances in the Evaluation of Vehicle Fuel Economy and its Application to Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Systems"

International Journal of Vehicle Performance 4(3) 2018
  • A model based approach for the analysis and simulation of a hybrid bus in an urban context
  • Theoretical and experimental investigation of the thermal behaviour of a two-speed dual clutch transmission
  • New methods for modelling and optimisation of multispeed transmission in an electric vehicle
  • Dynamic analysis of a vehicle with leaf spring based on the hysteresis model
Additional paper
  • Modelling optimisation of vehicle velocity for wheeled construction vehicles traversing in off-road terrain

Research pick: Pigeon pea - "No rain but bumper harvest: the magic of pigeonpea in semi-arid Kenya"

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) has been cultivated as a food crop for at least 3500 years. It is a great source of protein and widely consumed in South Asia, as well as Asia as a whole, Africa, and Latin America. Researchers in Kenya point out that land degradation and drought conditions can seriously constrain agricultural production in arid and semi-arid areas. However, even without significant rain there can be bumper harvests of this crop plant.

The researchers have looked at the yields of sole- and inter-crops of maize and pigeon ea varieties under different weather conditions over the period 2009 to 2013 and found that harvests where the Mbaazi II strain of pigeon pea was intercropped with maize offers the best option for marginal farmers especially if water conservation methods are employed and excess crop and waste plants parts are ploughed back into the soil rather than being fed to livestock.

Kwena, K.M., Ayuke, F.O., Karuku, G.N. and Esilaba, A.O. (2018) ‘No rain but bumper harvest: the magic of pigeonpea in semi-arid Kenya’, Int. J. Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp.181–203.

4 October 2018

Special issue published: "Innovation and Learning of Vocational Education"

International Journal of Innovation and Learning 24(4) 2018
  • The analysis of gaps in the implementation of process standard on the supervision of productive learning aspect in vocational school
  • The instructional media development of welding practice course based on PjBL model: enhancing student engagement and student competences
  • Implementation of monitoring system in facial acupressure learning media
  • LdesV, computer-operated video: overcoming students' difficulties in understanding automotive starting system
  • Enhancing student clustering to generate adaptive metacognitive instructions in learning system for vocational high school
  • Short answer scoring using W-Bleu for regular assessment in vocational high school
  • Model of local excellence-based on entrepreneurship education management for prospective vocational school teachers

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics are now available here for free:
  • India's mandatory CSR policy: implications and implementation challenges
  • Does board diversity affect firm performance? Evidence from the Italian financial sector
  • Do foreign ownership and foreign directorship matter for return on equity? Evidence from Malaysian listed companies
  • The advent of accounting in business governance: from ancient scribes to modern practitioners
  • Value relevance and codes of ethics: an empirical analysis of Italian listed companies

Special issue published: "Advances in Mechanical Engineering Research"

International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 10(6) 2018
  • A hybrid crow search algorithm to minimise the weighted sum of makespan and total flow time in a flow shop environment
  • Dynamic analysis of composite propeller of ship using FEA
  • Influence study of manufacturing constraints and percentage of reinforcement on copper - fly ash composite by full factorial design
  • Preparation, characterisation and machining of LaPO4-Y2O3 composite by abrasive water jet machine
  • A short review on fretting wear behaviour of Al7075
  • Characteristic study on Al7020 friction stir joints with various rotational speeds
  • Effect of turbo A/R ratio on a high speed turbocharged automotive diesel engine
  • Additional papers
  • Unevenness measurement using the support vector machine and dynamic multiservice load balancing with modified genetic algorithm in cloud-based multimedia system
  • Numerical simulation: controlling light emitting diodes from MATLAB

Research pick: Smartphone activity - "A two-phase human activity classification design using accelerometer data from smartphone"

Your smartphone could be used to monitor your level of activity – whether you are running, walking or standing, according to research in China. The benefits might be in healthcare, checking up on patients with mobility issues of fall risk as well as in health and fitness apps that allow the user to set targets for different levels of activity.

The team has developed a two-stage method for analyzing the data from the smart phone’s built-in accelerometer. The team’s algorithm looks at the acceleration in three dimensions, x, y, and z and can then determine whether the person carrying the phone is running, walking, or standing with an accuracy of more than 97%. The next steps will include improving accuracy still further as well as developing the technology so that it can distinguish other physical actions, perhaps sporting activity such as cycling or rowing.

Ali, S.A. and Amin, R.U. (2018) ‘A two-phase human activity classification design using accelerometer data from smartphone’, Int. J. Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp.281–291.

3 October 2018

Special issue published: "Liner Shipping and Terminal Operations"

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics 10(5/6) 2018
  • A non-structural approach to assess competitive conditions in container liner shipping market: 2009-2014
  • The role of the degree of use of the facilities in the port choice process: the Spanish dockside cranes case
  • Cargo flow, freight rate and speed optimisation of container liner services
  • An empirical analysis of the critical selection criteria of liner operators: the perspective of freight forwarders
  • Simultaneous optimisation of seaside operations in container terminals: a case study of the Iranian Rajaee port
  • What drives European port traffic? The role of competition

Special issue published: "Business Administration – 2017 in Review"

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management 8(1/2) 2018
  • Strategic management in times of crisis: the case of marble enterprises in the prefecture of Drama, Greece
  • The role of China in the global shipping industry, with emphasis on the dry bulk market
  • Greek public airports' efficiency assessment using DEA-modelling. Factors influencing efficiency and economic recession environment (2009-2014) implications
  • Motivation and job satisfaction: the case of call centres in Greece
  • Coaching: a plus (+) to managerial skills
  • Comparative analysis of the contemporary public sector quality determinants in relation to the satisfaction level of the Greek judicial officials and citizens in civil, criminal and administrative courts

Special issue on: "Frontiers in Pervasive Computing" (includes free Open Access article)

International Journal of Embedded Systems 10(5) 2018
  • Energy aware list-based scheduling for parallel applications in cloud
  • User similarity-based gender-aware travel location recommendation by mining geotagged photos
  • An abstraction layer enabling pervasive hardware-reconfigurable systems
  • Scheduling deadline-constrained scientific workflow using chemical reaction optimisation algorithm in clouds
Additional papers
  • Direct garbage collection: two-fold speedup for managed language embedded systems [FREE FULL-TEXT ACCESS]
  • An improved CUDA-based hybrid metaheuristic for fast controller of an evolutionary robot
  • Static compliance checking beyond separation of duty constraints
  • An algorithm of video network transmission based on unbalanced multiple description coding

Research pick: Use your greens for nanotech - "A review on exploring phytosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles using genus Brassica"

Researchers in India have reviewed the potential of using Brassica plants (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, rape, kohlrabi, cauliflower, rutabaga, brown mustard, and turnip) as biological processors for the environmentally friendly reduction of silver and gold to nanoparticles of those metals.

Engineered nanoparticles can be made using various physical and chemical “bottom up” approaches as well as biological methods. Bacteria, fungi, and yeasts have been used to make nanoparticles, but there is great potential for a wide range of crop plants to be used too. The approach offers great cost savings versus physical and chemical methods and the resulting gold and silver nanoparticles have been demonstrated to have antibacterial and even anticancer activity.

Yadav, M. and Kaur, P. (2018) ‘A review on exploring phytosynthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles using genus Brassica’, Int. J. Nanoparticles, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp.165–177.

2 October 2018

Special issue published: "Computational Intelligence Informatics and Information Security"

International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications 17(4) 2018
  • Image pre-processing of icing transmission line based on fuzzy clustering
  • A study on power balance control strategies of mining variable speed magnetic coupling based on fuzzy self-adaptive PID
  • Exploration on predicting breast cancer stage with the aid of redesigned ANN incorporated with enhanced social spider optimisation technique
  • Prediction of oil production based on SVM optimised multi-objective particle swarm optimisation
  • An improved adaptation algorithm for signer-independent sign language recognition
  • Design of remote control system for intelligent irrigation based on ZigBee and GPRS
  • Modification of AES using genetic algorithms for high-definition image encryption
  • A study on flow based classification models using machine learning techniques
  • A hybrid approach to improve the quality of software fault prediction using NaĆÆve Bayes and k-NN classification algorithm with ensemble method
  • Labelled decision-making method based on neural network model and pruning algorithm
  • Design of water quality monitoring system based on WSN and ZigBee

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management are now available here for free:
  • The effect of online consumer reviews on buying behaviour and their management by the tourism industry
  • Efficiency in the tax-auditing administration in Greece
  • Focus on human resources as a mediating factor between ISO 9001 certification and continuous quality improvement
  • Human resources division transformation in the banking sector: the implementation of the 'three legged stool'
  • Managing customer relationships: a comprehensive literature review and future directions
  • Managing social media as a marketing tool in the Greek business environment
  • Valuation of mergers and acquisitions: the case study of a Greek listed company
  • Forecasting of future stock prices using neural networks and genetic algorithms

Special issue published: "Advances in Measurement Science and Technology"

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 57(4) 2018
  • Non-contact roundness measurement with air gauges: simulation studies
  • Air gauge back-pressure uncertainty estimation for the advanced test rig
  • Barkhausen noise signal analysis of heat treated samples at various magnetising frequencies
  • Investigations of performance parameters in NFMQL assisted turning of titanium alloy using TOPSIS and particle swarm optimisation method
  • Analysis for electromagnetic performance of PM motor with different metal nano-material bars
  • Influence of solutionising temperature and time on spherodisation of the silicon particles of AMNCs

Research pick: Refugee crisis? - "Crisis, migration and the consolidation of the EU border control regime"

A narrow interpretation of the term “crisis” in the context of refugees and migrants seeking a new home in the European Union and EU border control regimes could have grave consequences of the lives of many people, according to research from Italy.

Moreover, the intense public debate on the “crisis” has not allowed the public and policymakers alike to recognize that the crisis is not a manifestation of external factors but a problem arising because of the intrinsic weaknesses in the EU border control regime and political instability in the Mediterranean region.

“The ongoing crisis at Europe’s borders can be seen as an ‘epistemic crisis’, signalling the contradictions and fluidity in the language and labels used when discussing human mobility and its governance,” it is argued.

Campesi, G. (2018) ‘Crisis, migration and the consolidation of the EU border control regime‘, Int. J. Migration and Border Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp.196-221.

1 October 2018

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing

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

Special issue published: "Next Generation Cloud, Mobile Cloud, Mobile Edge Computing and Internet of Things Systems and Networking"

International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking 12(3) 2018
  • Classifying environmental monitoring data to improve wireless sensor networks management
  • A power-control interference management mechanism for Femtocell-based networks
  • Exploring the relationships between web accessibility, web traffic, and university rankings: a case study of Jordanian universities
  • Context-aware latency reduction protocol for secure encryption and decryption
  • Energy efficiency of heterogeneous multicore system based on the enhanced Amdahl's law
  • Pixel classified colourisation method based on neighbourhood similarity priori
  • A novel distributed node searching method in DTNs
  • ElasticQ: an active queue management algorithm with flow trust
  • A hybrid mutation artificial bee colony algorithm for spectrum sharing
  • When is the immune inspired B-cell algorithm superior to the (1+1) evolutionary algorithm?
  • Assessing nodes' importance in complex networks using structural holes

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Big Data Intelligence

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Big Data Intelligence are now available here for free:
  • HCEm model and a comparative workload analysis of Hadoop cluster
  • A knowledge-based integrated framework for increasing social management intelligence
  • Optimising column family for OLAP queries in HBase
  • PaloPro: a platform for knowledge extraction from big social data and the news