Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling are now available here for free:

• Coloured Petri net for modelling and improving emergency department based on the simulation model
• Simulation-based structural design of diesel generator mufflers and their performance analysis
• Modelling, simulation and resource optimisation of complex development project by fusion of multiple-domain matrix and coloured Petri nets methods
• Cogent: a coherence-driven cognitive agent modelling and experimentation framework
• The structure optimisation of hydraulic mechanical screw pump
• Swarm intelligent algorithm for re-entrant hybrid flow shop scheduling problems
• Stability-based model for evacuation system using agent-based social simulation and Monte Carlo method

Special issue published: "Theory, Methodology and Application of Modelling and Simulation"

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 15(1/2) 2020

• Modelling and application of laparoscopic simulation system for panhysterectomy
• Seamless development in Java of distributed real-time systems using actors
• Research on NOx emission of coal-fired unit based on multi-model clustering ensemble
• Decision supporting for ship collision avoidance in restricted waters
• Simulation modelling and analysis of balance mechanisms of innovation search in innovation network
• Modelling and simulation of intelligent collision avoidance based on ship domain
• Validating trustworthy service composition through VIPLE and pi-calculus
• Two-sided M-Bayesian limits of credibility of reliability parameters in the case of zero-failure data and a case study
• Modelling of ship collision avoidance behaviours based on AIS data
• Fast fractal image retrieval algorithm based on HV partition
• Large-scale text classification with deeper and wider convolution neural network
• Real-time health status evaluation for electric power equipment based on cloud model
• A novel method of reactive voltage optimisation for photovoltaic systems
• XML-based DEVS modelling and simulation tracking
• Energy consumption models in dialysis clinics for agent-based decision support
• Optimisation of customer satisfaction index model for business hall of operator

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research are now available here for free:

• Application of the analytical hierarchy process to optimisation of healthcare financing
• Elderly depression in senior care facilities: primary causes, effects, and mitigation
• Geophagic behaviour and factors influencing it among pregnant women: a case study of Nakuru Municipality, Kenya
• The role of EEG signal processing in detection of neurocognitive disorders
• Hospitals and war: medical departments and personnel

Research pick: Internet addiction and quality of life - "Neuroticism and quality of life: the mediating role of internet addiction"

Quality of life is an ancient concept dating back to at least Aristotle, although the philosopher equated a good life or doing tasks well with happiness, rather than what we refer to today as quality of life. There is much talk of mental health and wellbeing today and the purported problems of neuroticism and addictive behaviour. Nowhere does this seem to be more sharply in relief than when we talk of internet addiction and how this might be modulated by the neurotic type personality and be detrimental to quality of life.

Writing in the International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, a team from Iran discusses exactly how so-called internet addiction can have an effect on people of a neurotic disposition and their quality of life. Fundamentally, their study shows that neuroticism as a personality trait can lead to avoidance of everyday life as a coping mechanism and this is commonly manifest in dependency and addiction to the internet and perhaps more obviously online social media.

“Our results indicate that those [students] who score high in neuroticism are more prone to move towards addictive behaviour such as internet addiction,” the team writes. This corroborates earlier independent work and also resinforces the idea that neuroticism is usually accompanied by an avoidance of face to face communication with other people. The internet and online social media lend themselves heavily to this behaviour. The team adds that overuse of the technology required to engage with the internet – computers and mobile phones, for instance – often do not lend themselves to appropriate posture nor physical activity and in many cases lead to avoidable repetitive strain injury, all of which can have a negative impact on quality of life.

Khayyer, Z., Najinia, M.A. and Harandi, R.J. (2019) ‘Neuroticism and quality of life: the mediating role of internet addiction’, Int. J. Behavioural and Healthcare Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.37–48.

Special issue published: "Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Management"

International Journal of Society Systems Science 12(1) 2020

• Psychosocial safety climate and burnout among academicians: the mediating role of work engagement
• Assessing recent pattern of gold price volatility in Malaysia (2005-2018)
• The impact of emotional intelligence on ambidextrous behaviours in small and medium enterprises in Malaysia
• Establishing the validity and reliability of Kuwait resources of nation branding model
• Development of an individual work performance and work design questionnaire
• The individual competencies and organisational ambidextrous: Indonesian SMEs perspective

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Society Systems Science

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

• Bayesian SEM analyses the cyber crime awareness in India
• Reliability and validity of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale among university students of Bangladesh
• A study on impact of students perceived service quality on brand performance of self-financing engineering institutions
• A simulation design for the regional lock-in effect of urbanisation in Taiwan

Special issue on: "Socio-Emotional Wealth and Entrepreneurial Performance of Family Firms"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 40(1) 2020

• The influence of socio-emotional wealth on firm financial performance: evidence from small and medium privately held family businesses
• Unpacking socio-emotional wealth: exploring the origins of affective endowment in founder firms
• Socio-emotional wealth and innovativeness in Italian family firms: what happens when the leader is a latest-generation member?
• Values as antecedents of socio-emotional wealth behaviour in family firms
• Entrepreneurial orientation and innovation success in family firms
• Exploring the side effects of socio-emotional wealth. A multilevel analysis approach to the dysfunctional dynamics in family business succession

Research pick: No driving required - "Human or machine driving? Comparing autonomous with traditional vehicles value curves and motives to use a car"

Researchers from Brazil and France have undertaken a review of the value curves and motivations implicit in the choice between autonomous and traditional vehicles. Their findings suggest that self-driving cars will eventually become more and more widespread and as they do the concepts of affective attributes and symbolism associated with conventional driving will be usurped by instrumental attributes. Fabio Antonialli of the Universidade Federal de Lavras, in Lavras, Brazil, and colleagues provide details of their work in the World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research.

Although in some sense, autonomous vehicles remain something of a futuristic option, many vehicles already have cruise control, steering correction, emergency braking systems, and self-parking features. Autonomous vehicles, which are essentially robot vehicles are used in logistics and agriculture in many parts of the world. It is perhaps only a matter of time before a much greater proportion of road users are no longer drivers, but simply passengers in their vehicles. Autonomous vehicles will hopefully provide accessibility to transport for people in need, boost efficiency, reduce costs and time, improve comfort, and reduce road traffic accidents caused by errant driving.

The transition will occur when the attributes of traditional vehicles are no longer seen as essential and the functionality and features of autonomous vehicles displace those not only in the vehicles themselves but in the popular perception of driving and cars. It is likely that autonomous taxis are likely to represent the biggest wave of uptake and will represent a vast investment opportunity, the team suggests. There is “a massive growth opportunity for technology players or automakers that are able to piece together a successful autonomous strategy,” the team writes.

Antonialli, F., Cavazza, B.H., Gandia, R.M., Nicolaï, I., de Miranda Neto, A., Sugano, J.Y. and Zambalde, A.L. (2020) ‘Human or machine driving? Comparing autonomous with traditional vehicles value curves and motives to use a car’, World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.137–156.

Research pick: Blood supply security in a disaster - "Blood supply chain risks in disasters – a fault tree analysis approach"

When natural or other disaster strikes there is usually an enormous increase in demand for donated blood and blood products for those who have suffered serious injury. Writing in the International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management, a team from Iran has taken a fault-tree analysis approach to understanding risks to the chain of blood supply.

The study involves the design of a process map that shows the workflow of the blood supply chain visually from donation to distribution. This, then allows the team to look at the risks associated with each step and activity from donor to hospital. The researchers can then pluck out each significant risk and work out a probability of supply chain failure and so identify the most vulnerable parts of the process.

The blood supply chain has four main processes: blood collection, product processing, laboratory testing, and storage and distribution of blood products.

The team’s work could help eliminate certain serious risks while other risks might be mitigated rather than precluded and the process still function. “Proper planning and accurate prediction of the amount of required equipment at the time of disaster would decrease this risk and can control its impact on the blood supply chain,” the team adds. Ultimately, the risk will depend on the exact nature of the disaster in hand. But, anything that can be done to reduce the overall impact on human lives is welcome.

Abtahi, A-R., Zenouz, R.Y., Ghaderian, M-R. and Aghaie, A. (2019) ‘Blood supply chain risks in disasters – a fault tree analysis approach’, Int. J. Modelling in Operations Management, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp.269-283.

Free open access article available: "Psychological capital, task autonomy and innovative work behaviour among public organisation employees"

The following paper, "Psychological capital, task autonomy and innovative work behaviour among public organisation employees" (International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion
 10(4) 2019), is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

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

Big data research has attracted considerable academic attention. However, simplifying the data management structure in order to generate optimum insights from large amounts of data is an ongoing management concern. In this context, the International Journal of Big Data Management encourages research at the intersection of strategic management and big data analytics to understand how large amounts of data could systematically and strategically be managed, in order to improve the practical implications of data for managerial decision making, along with socio-economic development.

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

Research pick: Food fighting climate change - "How to benefit from the food waste in the era of global warming?"

Humanity bounces from one crisis to another as history shows us. Food waste and climate change are perhaps part of the same crisis. Now, research published in the International Journal of Global Warming suggests that finding secondary uses for food waste might reduce the overall impact of this problem.

Mustafa Özilgen and colleagues at Yeditepe University, in Istanbul, Turkey, explain how the issue is a self-perpetuating problem: “Global warming increases the food waste; in return, the food waste causes further increase in global warming,” they say. Remedies that have been suggested at least for kitchen waste suggest that burning such waste instead of fossil fuels might help. The team has now used thermodynamic calculations to show that food waste from a fast food outlet after compression and drying to produce one tonne of waste could be used to generate 3.5 gigawatts.

They have estimated that all the fruit and vegetable waste in Turkey, including agricultural waste, could produce 7.2 gigajoules of energy each year. Of course, part of the problem of food waste is the plastic and paper packaging and some of this will be a component of the overall dried and compressed material from the food outlets.

“Our analysis indicates that trying to find a secondary use for food waste is not a feasible process, when compared with electric power production via combustion in a Rankine cycle with regeneration,” the team reports. There may well be niche secondary uses for normally inedible fruit peel, vegetable stems, and other unusable plant materials that do not simply involve burning them for energy, but thermodynamically we would benefit more from burning such food waste instead of fossil fuels.

Gökbulak, S.K., Nazir, S., Tunçel, S. and Özilgen, M. (2020) ‘How to benefit from the food waste in the era of global warming?’, Int. J. Global Warming, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp.216–236.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development are now available here for free:

• Knowledge creation in knowledge-intensive small and medium sized enterprises
• Application of the triple helix model in the revitalisation of cities: the case of Brazil
• Planning a global knowledge city: experience from Melbourne, Australia
• Areas of innovation in cities: the evolution of 22@Barcelona

Special issue published: "Social Innovation for Knowledge-Based Local Development"

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development 11(1) 2020

• The role of social innovation for a knowledge-based local development: insights from the literature review
• Sharing cognitive, emotional and spiritual knowledge within smart and connected communities
• Implementing social innovation in real contexts
• Optional and necessary activities: operationalising Jan Gehl's analysis of urban space with Foursquare data
• A minimal viable process and tools for massive participation in urban development
• Knowledge-based social innovation for cultural endeavours revitalising urban structures

Research pick: Connecting Wi-Fi and 5G - "Traffic modelling of an integrated 5G/Wi-Fi network with generally distributed user-dwell times"

It is possible to integrate conventional wireless internet, Wi-Fi with the fifth generation of cellular mobile phone networks, so-called 5G. Writing in the International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing, a team from the USA discusses how Wi-Fi traffic can move flexibly between 5G cells and Wi-Fi cells. It does this through overflow, vertical handoff, horizontal handoff, and take-back operations, the team explains.

Shensheng Tang of St Cloud State University, in Minnesota, John O’Rourke of Altec Industries in Joseph, Missouri, and Grace Tang of Central High School, also in St. Joseph have proposed a traffic modelling method that allows for generally distributed user-dwell times.

“We consider an integrated wireless network using 5G cellular architecture as mobility support for Wi-Fi traffic and perform traffic modelling of the integrated architecture with generally distributed user-dwell times. In the integrated architecture, the Wi-Fi traffic takes on complete user mobility,” the team explains.

The researchers add that the same approach to quality assurance might also be extended to 5G integrated with other types of system, such as sensor networks, intelligent vehicle networks, and Internet of Things applications.

Tang, S., O’Rourke, J. and Tang, G. (2020) ‘Traffic modelling of an integrated 5G/Wi-Fi network with generally distributed user-dwell times’, Int. J. Wireless and Mobile Computing, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp.242–254.

Special issue published: "Advances in Intelligent Information Communication Technologies"

International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems 12(2) 2020

• Onboard reasoning and other applications of the logic-based approach to the moving objects intelligent control
• Multi-criteria clustering-based recommendation using Mahalanobis distance
• Fast algorithm of image enhancement based on multi-scale retinex
• Exchanging deep knowledge for fault diagnosis using ontologies
• Multistage approach for automatic spleen segmentation in MRI sequences
• Classification of radar non-homogenous clutter based on statistical features using neural network
• Development of a sit-to-stand assistance chair for elderly people

Special issue published: "Innovative Ways to Enhance Learning Through Technology"

International Journal of Innovation and Learning 27(3) 2020

• Implementation of blended learning in a higher education institution in Albania: an analysis of factors that affect students' learning experience
• Investigating the effectiveness of vocabulary learning tasks from the perspective of the technique feature analysis: the effects of pictorial annotations
• Adaptive e-learning model for learning English as a second/foreign language
• Investigating the use of mobile instant messaging-facilitated 5E-flipped learning: a two-stage study
• The analysis of timeout behaviours in online tests
• Using immersive reality in training nursing students
• Supporting more engaged learning: the case for the 3D printer - a position paper

Special issue published: "Advanced Pattern Recognition and Soft Computing Paradigms"

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms 16(1) 2020

• Fuzzy project scheduling with critical path including risk and resource constraints using linear programming
• Using a soft computing method for impedance modelling of Li-ion battery current
• Provide a new clustering scheme based on density to enhance energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks
• OMCM-CAS: organisational model and coordination mechanism for self-adaptation and self-organisation in collective adaptive systems
• The performance comparison of improved continuous mixed P-norm and other adaptive algorithms in sparse system identification
• Energy-aware traffic engineering in IP networks using non-dominated sorting genetic II algorithm
• A comparison of data mining methods for diagnosis and prognosis of heart disease

Research pick: Antibacterial biopolymer, just add silver - "Creation of composites of bacterial cellulose and silver nanoparticles: evaluation of antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity"

A natural biopolymer, bacterial cellulose, is synthesised by the microbe Gluconacetobacter hansenii. Researchers are intrigued by its properties but one that it lacks in the native state is antibacterial activity and that is something could be useful for a wide range of healthcare and other applications, if only it could be engineered into this natural material.

Now, a team from Russia, has created a composite of bacterial cellulose with silver nanoparticles, which endows the biopolymer with the requisite antibacterial activity. The team describes details in the International Journal of Nanotechnology where they report on antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. Tatiana Gromovykh of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University is the corresponding and first-named author on the paper.

Metal-vapour synthesis was used to embedded nanoparticles of silver metal with diameters of between in 8 and 12 nanometres in the biopolymer. Biological testing showed the composite to be active against three important types of potentially pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and acid resistant Bacillus coagulans. It had no fungicidal effect against Aspergillus niger nor Candida albicans, however. The findings hint at applications as an antibacterial, but not antifungal, coating for medical devices.

However, additional tests in a different sphere showed that the same composite material had activity in reducing the viability of human melanoma cells and mesenchymal stem cells in laboratory cultures pointing to potential in a novel approach to treating tumours arising from skin cancer. The team suggests that a scaffold with an antitumour effect might one day be fabricated from their composite with this aim.

Gromovykh, T.I., Vasil’kov, A.Yu., Sadykova, V.S., Feldman, N.B., Demchenko, A.G., Lyundup, A.V., Butenko, I.E. and Lutsenko, S.V. (2019) ‘Creation of composites of bacterial cellulose and silver nanoparticles: evaluation of antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity’, Int. J. Nanotechnol., Vol. 16, Nos. 6/7/8/9/10, pp.408–420.

Special issue published: "Shifting Goal Posts: Transformations in Emerging Markets"

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management 6(2) 2020

• Sustainable development - goals and challenges ahead in developing countries
• An empirical study on the impact of corporate culture on Singapore-based companies when implementing international business strategy: a Singaporean perspective
• The mindful managers
• Gujarat's developmental trajectory: a comparative HDI study of Ahmedabad, Junagadh and Surat
• Addressing climate change - making the case for big data-based decision making framework
• Do business managers in Singapore consider sustainability a sustainable proposition - construing the perception to overcome challenges?
• Sensory marketing: an innovative marketing strategy to sustain in emerging markets
• Digital marketing: the opportunity and the imperative
• Business strategies during recession: retail sector
• Microfinance and its economic impact on farmers in Mohali district of Punjab
• Competitive advantage: intelligent way of doing business

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation are now available here for free:

• Corporate governance and risk disclosure: evidence from Saudi Arabia
• Auditors' issue contingency of reduced audit quality acts: perceptions of managers and partners
• Effect of aggregate, mandatory and voluntary disclosure on firm performance in a developing market: the case of Kuwait
• The impacts of multiple large ownership structure on board independence

Special issue published: "Services Computing in the Tide of Artificial Intelligence"

International Journal of Services Technology and Management 26(2/3) 2020

• An approach for composite service selection based on the records of request/matching
• An approach to the mobile social services recommendation algorithm based on association rules mining
• CKGECS: a Chinese knowledge graph for elderly care service
• An approach for identifying the abstraction scopes of business process Petri nets system using binary search tree
• Provisioning big data applications as services on containerised cloud: a microservices-based approach
• Detect and analyse the concurrent flaws of the BPEL process in a VPN-based approach
• Resource-constrained O2O service recommended strategy research
• Striving to make better decision quicker in cloud: big data event trading in high frequency trading perspective
• SDPBDVC: secure data processing on big data using visual cryptography
• Multi-depot vehicle routing problem based on customer satisfaction

Research pick: Cloud insecurities - "A note on cloud computing security"

Writing in the International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, a team from India suggests that existing security algorithms cannot meet the needs of cloud computing. The team of Deepak Garg and Shalli Rani of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Chitkara University, and Jagpreet Sidhu of Jaypee University of Information Technology in Solan, India, provide an analytical approach to the problem that might help lead the way to a solution.

Cloud computing has been the “new” paradigm for many years now in delocalised, distributed, and shared services. It allows organisations and individuals to offload storage and computer processing requirements on to a third party, usually for a fee. There are many benefits, distributed servers, greater processing capacity, and more. The USA’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cloud computing as follows: “It is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

The downside to cloud computing is that the user is ultimately dependent on a third party for the privacy and protection of any data they upload to the “cloud”. Unfortunately, there are so many disparate implementations in use that the research literature into cloud computing security is not a cohesive nor even coherent body of work that security specialists might turn to with a view to revealing the state-of-the-art exploring and filling loopholes in security.

The team’s analytical approach to the literature offers a way forward to clarifying the nature of cloud computing’s insecurities. It might, the team suggests, assist in finding a better understanding, of the patterns and trends, and other factors important to users, providers, and the information security community.

Garg, D., Sidhu, J. and Rani, S. (2020) ‘A note on cloud computing security’, Int. J. Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp.133–154.

Inderscience journals to invite expanded papers from Business & Economics Society International (B&ESI) Special Online, Pre-recorded, Conference for potential publication

Extended versions of papers presented at the Business & Economics Society International (B&ESI) Special Online, Pre-recorded, Conference will be invited for review and potential publication by the following journals:

• Global Business and Economics Review
• Interdisciplinary Environmental Review
• Int. J. of Behavioural and Healthcare Research
• Int. J. of Economics and Business Research

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies are now available here for free:

• 'Financial stability' safeguarding: modelling the Russian budgetary policy
• Economic progression of ASEAN - a comparative analysis of selected ASEAN economies
• Bridging the tax gap in Poland
• Russian trade policy: main trends and impact on bilateral trade flows
• Classification of elderly workers for support policies customised for each target group
• Macroeconomic policy and exchange rate impacts on the foreign direct investment in ASEAN economies

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

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation are now available here for free:

• Illuminating blind spots and skewness in leadership
• The complementarity of academic and commercial research output in funded research teams: evidence from a survey of publicly funded Irish researchers
• Living cell technologies: finding a path to market for xenotransplantation therapy
• Extending Pasteur's quadrant: university strategic groups and sources of heterogeneity in university technology transfer office activities
• An econometric study of dynamic relationships of regional integrations across the globe

Research pick: Blending education in the science museum - "Exploring a blended mobile learning environment to develop students’ scientific inquiry skills in science museums"

A blended mobile learning environment could be useful in helping teach students how to employ their scientific inquiry skills in a science museum, according to research published in the International Journal of Smart Technology and Learning.

Hua Du and Xiaoqing Gu of the Department of Educational Information Technology at East China Normal University, in Shanghai, explain how science museums are ripe for development as teaching environments for developing scientific skills. In the age of the always-connected mobile device, phones and tablets can be pulled into this scenario to develop the concept still further. Blending the online environment with the offline, physical world of a museum has great potential, the work suggests.

The team has explored how well such a blended mobile environment might function in education and tested the approach with two groups of students and activities designed for particular capabilities and educational maturity. The bottom line, reports the team is that “a well-designed blended mobile learning environment in science museums is effective in developing students’ scientific inquiry skills.” Critically, however, the best results were seen with those students for whom specific scientific tasks had been appropriately tailored.

“The findings strengthen our view that learner-centeredness is an important perspective in mobile device-based science museum experiences,” the team concludes.

Du, H. and Gu, X. (2019) ‘Exploring a blended mobile learning environment to develop students’ scientific inquiry skills in science museums’, Int. J. Smart Technology and Learning, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.310–322.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education are now available here for free:

• An efficient standard error estimator of the DINA model parameters when analysing clustered data
• A comparison of five methods for pretest item selection in online calibration
• The validity of the parental academic support scale: associations among relational and family involvement outcomes
• Investigating differential options functioning using multinomial logistic regression
• Structural equation modelling trees for invariance assessment
• Using large-scale educational data to test motivation theories: a synthesis of findings from Swedish studies on test-taking motivation
• Extending the internal/external frame of reference model to early-year cognitive abilities for children from diverse backgrounds
• Higher education surveys from United States' National Center for Education Statistics

Special issue on: "Ten Years of Professional Nanoscience Development in Russia"

International Journal of Nanotechnology 16(6/7/8/9/10) 2019

• How to quantify and visualise motivation hierarchy of social group: semantic analysis
• Nanoscale displacement measurement
• Computer simulation of hybrid quantum technologies of energy accumulation, storage, transformation and transfer in nanoenergy materials
• Effect of vibration on structure and properties of polymeric membranes
• Nanostructure of organic-inorganic composite materials based on polymer hydrogels
• Study of nanostructure of polymer adsorption layers on the particles surface of titanium dioxide
• Method for quantitative measurements of carbon nanotubes mass amount in liquid and solid media including organic materials
• Formation technology of X-ray quasimonochromatic fluxes with nanosize width and small angular divergence
• Electrochemical growth of ZnO photonic crystals
• Creation of composites of bacterial cellulose and silver nanoparticles: evaluation of antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity
• Emerging resistive random-access memory for 'fog' computing and IoT: materials and structural options taxonomy
• Films of bacterial cellulose with lipid nanoparticles of sanguinarine as a basis for creating antimicrobial coating materials
• Methods to ensure reliable contact of super-large integrated circuit with test equipment
• Automatic localisation method for VLSI topology errors at the stage of functional control
• Using fractal analysis methods in studying mechanisms of deformation and destruction of nano-modified cement concretes
• Physical and mechanical properties of modified fine-grained fibre-reinforced concretes containing carbon nanostructures
• Multifunctional capsules with oil core and shells of SiO2 nanoparticles, nanodiamonds and polyelectrolyte layers with Fe3O4 nanoparticles
• Biocompatibility conditions and biological activity of cobalt nanoparticles, depending on the size and concentration
• The effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles bioaccumulation in seedlings on growth and development of vetch (Vicia sativa)
• Obtaining of carbon nanostructured surfaces by pulse plasma deposition method
• Practical tasks of training of specialists for nanotechnology industry
• Application of VR/AR technology for visualisation of radiation tolerance of VLSI
• Sonification of single-walled carbon nanotubes properties for engineering applications
• Increase of service life of friction units of machines and mechanisms with the use of serpentine tribopreparations
• Operation principle and fabrication technology of the neuroprocessor input unit on the basis of the memristive logic matrix
• Study of the specific features, characterising homogenisation of the promising Al-Mg system aluminium alloys with transition elements addition
• Obtaining of composite metal-carbon nanoparticles in complex plasma
• Nanostructurisation of hypoeutectic silumin by electroexplosion alloying and subsequent electron beam processing

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Security and Networks

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

• A novel architecture for an integrated enterprise network security system
• A formation generation algorithm of multiple agents in naval battlefield environments
• A DV-Hop positioning algorithm based on the glowworm swarm optimisation of mixed chaotic strategy
• Group-IKEv2 for multicast IPsec in the internet of things
• XOR-based unexpanded meaningful visual secret sharing scheme

Research pick: Modelling the spread of disease - "Stability and numerical study of theoretical model of Zika virus transmission"

A theoretical model of the spread of viral transmission is reported in the International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation. The paper discusses Zika virus transmission but could have implications for understanding the spread of other viruses, with particular pertinence to the development of a pandemic disease.

Maghnia Hamou Maamar, Leila Bouzid, and Omar Belhamiti of the University of Mostaganem, in Algeria, and Fethi Bin Muhammad Belgacem of the Department of Mathematics, in the Faculty of Basic Education, at PAAET, in Al-Ardhiya, Kuwait, have created a compartmental model for human and mosquito transmission of Zika virus. They have also investigated how a non-human primate, a monkey, may have acted as a disease reservoir. Such reservoirs can act as routes from the native host in which a disease may be endemic or asymptomatic into a human or other population where it becomes a serious health problem.

The mathematical model looks at incidence, spread, and transmission and shows how different parameters will lead to the development of the disease to the endemic situation. The implications are there for how a pandemic disease might arise, particularly when a non-human vector amplifies the spread of the pathogen.

Maamar, M.H., Bouzid, L., Belhamiti, O. and Belgacem, F.B.M. (2020) ‘Stability and numerical study of theoretical model of Zika virus transmission’, Int. J. Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp.141–166

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics are now available here for free:

• Analysis and optimisation of an olive oil supply chain: a case from Turkey
• Satellite methodologies for rationalising crop water requirements in vulnerable agroecosystems
• Soil moisture sensors for sustainable irrigation: comparison and calibration
• Selection of the most suitable tree species in urban areas based on their capability of capturing heavy metals: a forest policy approach
• Factors impacting farm management decision making software adoption

Free open access article available: "Transforming brand core values into perceived quality: a Volvo case study"

The following paper, "Transforming brand core values into perceived quality: a Volvo case study" (International Journal of Product Development 24(1) 2020), is freely available for download as an open access article.

It can be downloaded via the full-text link available here.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology

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

• Predictive control of variable speed wind energy conversion chain-based multilevel converters with balanced voltages
• Modelling and analysis of solar dryer cum water heater through CFD and analytical methods
• Bioethanol production from sawdust of Colombian pine: conditions and efficiency
• Design and implementation of a prototype hybrid micro grid model for available weather conditions
• Power electronic converters without electrolytic capacitors
• Theoretical and experimental analysis of glazed serpentine tube flat plate collector for effluent evaporation
• General situation of wind energy source in Turkey and wind turbine technologies
• Analysis of a heat pump assisted solar water heating system using TRNSYS program
• Optimal placement and sizing of DSTATCOM using firefly algorithm in the distribution system
• The effect of non-uniformities in temperature on the performance parameters of an isolated cell photovoltaic module with a compound parabolic concentrator

Research pick: Mapping internet toplogy - "A multilayer graph model of the internet topology"

What does the Internet look like and how can data be navigated it around it most efficiently and effectively? That is the question that a paper detailing a multilayer graph model of the internet topology could answer. Details are reported in the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations.

Georg Tilch and Benjamin Fabian of the Humboldt University of Berlin, and Tatiana Ermakova of the Central Research Institute of Ambulatory Health Care, in Germany discuss how internet maps can be used to develop effective routing algorithms. The same maps can also be used to improve security mechanisms and resilience management at the internet service provider and commercial user level through detailed structural decomposition.

The team has studied so-called traceroute datasets from various large-scale measurement campaigns such as iPlane, CAIDA, Carna, DIMES, RIPE Atlas and RIPE IPv6L. Traceroute is a internet command that, as the name would suggest, traces the route taken by packets of data as they travel from user A to user Z via various servers and nodes on the internet. They have integreated this traceroute data into internet graphs to give them a view with an unprecedented level of detail and a solid scale.

“By employing a broad diversity of graph measures, this study creates an exhaustive snapshot of the global internet topology,” the team writes. “This work creates a baseline for future internet research.” They additionally suggest that repeated measurements and automated data integration could enable a better understanding of internet dynamics.

Tilch, G., Ermakova, T. and Fabian, B. (2020) ‘A multilayer graph model of the internet topology’, Int. J. Networking and Virtual Organisations, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp.219–245.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies are now available here for free:

• Human rights in the Jordanian constitution: between theoretical texts and practical application
• Cultural change as a long-term solution for human trafficking
• Prisoners' rights under international law: an aetiological myths
• Innovation in governance through academic participation: urban governance
• A conceptual model of business drawing insights from Indian philosophical thought

International Journal of Comparative Management announces 2019 awards

The International Journal of Comparative Management's Editor in Chief, Prof. K.S. Reddy, is pleased to announce the following awards for 2019:

• Highly Commended Paper Award: Dr. Geeta Duppati (University of Waikato, New Zealand), Prof. Narendar V. Rao (Northeastern Illinois University, USA), Prof. Frank Scrimgeour (University of Waikato, New Zealand) and Dr. Neha Matlani (University of Delhi, India), for the following paper: Gender diversity reporting, performance, and exogenous shocks: Evidence from New Zealand. International Journal of Comparative Management 2019 2(3/4), 203-228
• Outstanding Reviewers: Prof. Vincenzo Pisano (University of Catania, Italy); Dr. Godfred Amewu (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Ghana); Dr. Boonlert Jitmaneeroj (University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thailand); Miss Sayoni Santra (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India)

Research pick: Hong Kong’s ongoing housing crisis - "Why ‘spicy measures’ fail to cool down Hong Kong’s housing market?"

Efforts known as “‘spicy measures”, which included a series of stamp duties and charges on non-local and local home buyers, were put in place in an attempt to slow the escalation of house prices in Hong Kong. They ultimately failed. New research published in the International Journal of Sustainable Real Estate and Construction Economics, discusses the measures and the implications.

Jing Li of the Department of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong worked with Wui Wing Cheng and Kam Hung Chui Department of Economics and Finance, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. They have attempted to unravel this puzzle in terms of overflow of liquidity and low interest rate environment.

The team found, through their carrying out of a Granger causality test, that the impact of artificially low interest rates lasts only in the short-term. By contrast, the impact of excess monetary supply has a much longer-lasting impact. “The findings challenge the prevalent view that Hong Kong government has little to do with housing market exuberance, as spicy measures increased the transaction costs of home buyers according to the Coase theorem,” the team explains. They add that the major policy implication is that charging tax may be ineffective in cooling house prices in the face of a strong market. “The paper sheds light on understanding the housing price dynamics with varying market demand over time, an academic void not adequately filled in so far,” the team says.

There is huge economic inequality in Hong Kong the team suggests. Others have asserted that housing ownership stands out as a pivotal tool for personal wealth deposit and accumulation. The team adds that despite various interventions, to increase housing supply by the government, Hong Kong remains the world’s least affordable city in which to live. The decades come and go and nothing much changes, the team points out.

Li, J., Cheng, W.W. and Chui, K.H. (2019) ‘Why ‘spicy measures’ fail to cool down Hong Kong’s housing market?’, Int. J. Sustainable Real Estate and Construction Economics, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.298–313.

Research pick: Global battles in the marketplace - "Social ties, foreign market attractiveness and trust"

Throughout history, foreign expansion has been seen by leaders as a way of increasing and acquiring resources, crafts, knowledge, and markets. Often that expansion has involved invasions and wars. Today, the globalisation of society has driven us to the point where the battles are mostly fought in the board rooms of multinational companies rather than in the green fields of distant lands.

Research published in the Journal of International Business and Entrepreneurship Development looks at the theory underlying foreign market attractiveness and takes it as a reference for multinational entrepreneurial expansion and the prospects of related foreign ventures.

Maher Al Sayah, Charbel Salloum, and Hajer Jarrar of the USEK Business School, in Jounieh, Lebanon, Jacques Digout of the Toulouse Business School, in Paris, and Catherine Mercier-Suissa of the IAE Lyon School of Management, in Lyon, France, have tested the validity of the theory’s constraints in terms of social ties and relations. In so doing, they analyse how entrepreneurs weigh information regarding a foreign market opportunities brought to them through socially tied sources.

The team found that the trust factor between the entrepreneur and their socially tied sources of information negatively influences foreign market entry attractiveness theory. In other words, an entrepeneur might give less weight to economic indicators and political security factors when offered perhaps contrary information from a trusted source and so foreign markets that might be seen as wholly unattractive to another entrepeneur lacking that information.

Al Sayah, M., Salloum, C., Digout, J., Mercier-Suissa, C. and Jarrar, H. (2020) ‘Social ties, foreign market attractiveness and trust’, J. International Business and Entrepreneurship Development, Vol. 12, Nos. 2/3, pp.83–108.

Free sample articles newly available from World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research

The following sample articles from the World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research are now available here for free:

• Synergies and conflicts between marketing and supply chain management key performance indicators
• Evaluating engineered networks: the effects of structure and process on the outcome of the Brazilian small-firm networks
• Strengthening innovative supply chain in the public transportation system of Curitiba through relational capabilities
• A framework of management tools for cooperation in distribution networks
• Minimum-cost flow algorithms: a performance evaluation using the Brazilian road network

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Product Development

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

• Integrating knowledge for manufacturing technology development
• Exploring traditional and new web-based methods to involve customers in new product development
• Linking design problems and modular solutions
• Four decades of new product development research: an integrative review

Research pick: Exercise, exergy, and meateaters - "Organisms live at far-from-equilibrium with their surroundings while maintaining homeostasis, importing exergy and exporting entropy"

Life is about thermodynamic extremes. When scientists first began formulating the Laws of Thermodynamics and talking about disorder and entropy, it seemed that somehow living things were in breach of the laws. How could they be such self-contained ordered, non-chaotic entities? But, of course, the answer lies in the fact that they are not self-contained, they do not represent a closed system.

There is, of course, no decrease in entropy when we look at the complete system. Living creatures draw their energy from the sun and as the sun pours out its heart, it is the entropy of that body that increases. Life on Earth is essentially paying for its perceived order through the increased entropy of the solar system and the space that surrounds it.

Writing in the International Journal of Exergy, a team from Turkey discusses how organisms live far-from thermodynamic equilibrium with their surroundings. They import exergy, export entropy and maintain constancy of their vital internal physiological constituents via homeostasis. Exergy is a measure of energy with the capacity to do what is referred to technically as work in the thermodynamic sense.

Cennet Yildiz, Volkan Adem Bilgin, Bayram Yılmaz, and Mustafa Özilgen of Yeditepe University, in Istanbul, Turkey, have used data from the scientific literature to calculate how homeostasis helps organisms to save exergy when carrying out their life processes. Maintaining body temperature, by contrast, they show, costs exergy.

Intriguingly, the team has found that there are big differences between mammals and reptiles in terms of their exergy requirements. The daily exergy expenditure rate of an animal depends on metabolic rate, body mass, and nutritional exergy uptake, the team explains. Their calculations show that endothermic (homeothermic) mammal that spends about one-third of its time in active metabolic mode and the rest of the day at rest needs a mere 6 grams of meat per kilogram of body mass each day to satisfy its exergy requirements. In contrast, an ectothermic reptile with the same level of activity needs 500 grams of meat per kilogram of body mass.

Yildiz, C., Bilgin, V.A., Yılmaz, B. and Özilgen, M. (2020) ‘Organisms live at far-from-equilibrium with their surroundings while maintaining homeostasis, importing exergy and exporting entropy’, Int. J. Exergy, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp.287–301.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing are now available here for free:

• Exploring the behaviour of Indian consumers towards online discounts
• Factors influencing consumers' purchase intention towards online group buying in Malaysia
• An exploration of e-impulse buying
• Profiling consumers of private label brands in virtual retail environment - a cluster analytic approach
• Using a multicriteria approach to identify factors that influence e-tailing service quality

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering are now available here for free:

• BathTUB team description - multi-agent programming contest 2016
• Multi-agent programming contest 2016: lampe team description
• Multi-agent programming contest 2016 - the Python-DTU team
• Multi-agent programming contest 2016
• The Flisvos-2016 multi-agent system
• Team PUCRS: a decentralised multi-agent solution for the agents in the city scenario

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

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Sustainable Materials and Structural Systems are now available here for free:

• Damages caused by alkali reactive concrete in structural elements
• Fatigue life prediction for carbon fibre/epoxy laminate composites under spectrum loading using two different neural network architectures
• Design and optimisation of a distributive model-based sensor fault detection method for automated in-network execution in a wireless sensor network
• A hybrid instrumented/computational modelling framework with lab-on-sensor design and calibration for structural behaviour monitoring
• Ultrasonic zero-lag cross correlation based on frequency-wavenumber domain analysis for internal delamination detection

Research pick: Cloud computing for well-travelled coffee - "Performability evaluation of transport modes for cloud-based inbound logistics: a study based on coffee industry"

How might cloud-based inbound logistics work in the coffee industry? That’s the question that research published in the International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management looks to answer.

Anderson Nascimento, Eduardo Tavares, Gabriel Alves, Erica Sousa, and Bruno Nogueira of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), in Recife, Brazil, explain how the adoption of cloud computing across supply chains the world over has been growing and bringing with it many benefits in terms of on-demand resource provisioning and cost reduction. They point out that in the context of inbound logistics, there are also mechanisms by which cloud computing can facilitate information sharing for better decision making in terms of transport options for specific goods and suppliers.

Cloud computing has been around for many years but is yet to be as widely adopted in some industries as it might. The team’s work points to an analysis of its utility as well as its pros and cons that might help those in coffee industry understand how it might best be used for enhancing performance and efficiency in transportation. In their analysis they demonstrate how managers now have a useful decision-making tool to hand for their inbound logistics that could lead to considerable improvements in delivery throughput.

Nascimento, A., Tavares, E., Alves Jr., G., Sousa, E. and Nogueira, B. (2020) ‘Performability evaluation of transport modes for cloud-based inbound logistics: a study based on coffee industry‘, Int. J. Manufacturing Technology and Management, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp.126-147.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Services Sciences

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

• Customer satisfaction on Indian domestic gas delivery
• Process capability and performance in business services offshoring
• The effects of consumer and brand personality on mobile services purchase
• Machine learning methods with feature selection approach to estimate software services development effort
• Service-dominant logic and service logic - contradictory and/or complementary?

Special issue published: "Discussing Business and Social Issues of Project Management from Interdisciplinary Perspectives"

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management 12(2) 2020

• A novel change impact model for enhancing project management
• Interaction between project management processes: a social network analysis
• Effective project management approach to attain project success, based on cost-time-quality
• Development of integration risk on integrated management system in order to increase organisational performance of construction company
• Does cooperative participant strengthen small and medium enterprises competitiveness in East Java?
• Sociocultural analysis of means of influence on subordinates by managers prone to manipulations
• Identification of tourist's image factors for the tourism large scale projects planning: a case study of Bangnamphung Floating Market, Samut Prakan Province, Thailand

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Swarm Intelligence

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

• Transmission network expansion planning using state-of-art nature inspired algorithms: a survey
• Comparison of cuckoo search and particle swarm optimisation in triclustering temporal gene expression data
• An improved particle swarm optimisation-based functional link artificial neural network model for software cost estimation
• ABC-PLOSS: a software tool for path-loss minimisation in GSM telecom networks using artificial bee colony algorithm
• Concurrent parametric optimisation of single pass end milling through GRA coupled with PSO for Calmax-635 die steel

Research pick: Multimedia science education - "Role of technology in science classrooms: an exploratory study of Pakistan"

A study from Pakistan alludes to a lack of engagement in science subjects from young students. Biology, chemistry, and physics are demanding subjects, essential to so many areas of modern life. However, it might be said that traditional teaching methods are no longer grabbing student attention. The team, writing in the International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, suggests that multimedia audio-visual aids could be used a lot more in schools to captivate and engage science students.

Zeeshan Iqbal of the Department of Commerce at Bahauddin Zakariya University, in Multan, Pakistan and Aisha Sami of the Department of Psychology there have surveyed 240 secondary school students and analysed their responses statistically. Their findings showed that using multimedia audio-visual aids in the classroom is an effective strategy that increases students activity, maintains a high level of interest in lessons, and encourages students to participate more.

“The present study enriches the existing knowledge on use of advances technologies in various sectors including education sector. The researchers focus on the use of multimedia audio-visual aids in the science classrooms. They conclude that the utilisation of audio-visual aids play a very important role in effective learning of science subjects. This study provides significant insights in terms of taking reviews from teachers and students,” the researchers explain.

Ultimately, the team will extend their approach to bigger sample groups and other cities with the aim of gleaning more general conclusions.

Iqbal, Z. and Sami, A. (2020) ‘Role of technology in science classrooms: an exploratory study of Pakistan’, Int. J. Technology Enhanced Learning, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.115–126.

Special issue published: "Performance and Reliability of AAC Masonry Against Seismic Hazard"

International Journal of Masonry Research and Innovation 5(2) 2020

• Seismic resistant AAC infill masonry: state-of-the-art and future developments
• Earthquake-proof system for masonry infills in RC frame structures
• Seismic out-of-plane behaviour of unreinforced AAC walls
• Effect of openings on the seismic response of AAC infilled frames and an innovative method to improve performance
• In-plane strength and stiffness of AAC floor without concrete topping in buildings with AAC masonry infill walls - experimental tests and numerical analyses
• Damage assessment of autoclaved aerated concrete buildings: some Italian case studies

Special issue published: "Image Processing in Computer Vision – Techniques and Advancements"

International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 12(3) 2020

• Automated extraction of dominant endmembers from hyperspectral image using SUnSAL and HySime
• Object-specific face authentication system for liveness detection using combined feature descriptors with fuzzy-based SVM classifier
• Feature extraction and classification of COPD chest X-ray images
• Event recognition and classification in sports video using HMM
• Cursive script identification using Gabor features and SVM classifier
• Markov random field classification technique for plant leaf disease detection
• Improving microaneurysm detection from non-dilated diabetic retinopathy retinal images using feature optimisation
• A new and efficient approach for the removal of high density impulse noise in mammogram
• Improved motion estimation algorithm based on integrity index and its implementation in x265

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management

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

• Risk allocation for infrastructure projects by PPPs - under environmental management and risk assessment mechanisms
• An evaluation framework for disaster risk management in Egypt
• The relation between cost-benefit analysis and risk acceptance in regulatory decision-making
• Reliability improvement and risk reduction through self-reinforcement
• Self-assertion vs. multi-fusion in the field of disaster management R&D: the case of Korea

Special issue published: "Intelligent Technologies in Modern Industries: Challenges Facing Globalisation and Informatisation"

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 19 (2/3) 2020

• Automatic recognition and defect compensation for calf leather
• Fitting the power spectrum of stationary random sequence
• Factors influencing cloud computing adoption for higher educational institutes in India: a fuzzy AHP approach
• A blind demodulation algorithm of random codes on carrier under low signal noise ratio by Morlet wavelet
• E-HRM implementation, adoption and its predictors: a case of small and medium enterprises of Pakistan
• Moderating effect of information technology ambidexterity linking new human resource management practices and innovation performance
• Canonical correlation analysis of the impact of ICT on the diversification performance
• Simulation verification for automobile anti-lock braking system bench test principle
• OBWD: an ontology and Bayesian network-based workflow design platform

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Innovation in Education

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

• Examining higher educational institutes for better growth of national economy through structured innovation
• The application of corpus in English structure analysis class: a case of adjective clause construction
• Positioning educational makerspaces within schools serving low socioeconomic status students
• Limiting resources to build classroom community in a flipped pre-service teacher course for pre-service middle school teachers
• Changes in educational leadership: case study of a Hong Kong education centre

Special issue published: "Computer Based Learning in Higher Education"

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 30(2) 2020

• Construction of a learning behaviour tracking analysis model for a MOOC online education platform
• Application of mobile education in assisted autonomous learning platforms in intelligent campus
• Research on the innovation of modern network distance education models based on the web
• Online mobile teaching methods based on Android in the 5G environment
• An intelligent evaluation model of bilingual teaching quality based on network resource sharing
• Association analysis of online learning behaviour in interactive education based on an intelligent concept machine
• A comprehensive evaluation system of teaching quality based on big data architecture
• Construction of a sharing model for network digital teaching resources oriented to big data
• Prediction of university students' academic level based on linear regression model

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Comparative Management

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

• Exploring the nature of risk disclosure in the annual report narratives of Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies: an impression management perspective
• A panel data analysis on the institutional determinants of foreign direct investment inflows: commonalities between India and China
• Cognition in comparative and strategic management research
• Gender diversity reporting, performance, and exogenous shocks: evidence from New Zealand
• Corporate governance and firm performance in an emerging economy context: new evidence from India
• Regulation of enterprise risk management: a comparative analysis of Australia, Germany and the USA
• Innovation management in the world under occidental dominance and in a new multi-polar world: a comparative perspective
• Transport service quality and perceived service value: an international comparative survey in European and Indian context
• A comparative study on glocal commercial advertisement perceptions - British and French viewers' responses to Red Bull

Special issue published: "Internet of Things and Smart City Technologies"

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 14(6) 2019

• A two-level identification model for selecting the coordination strategy for the urban arterial road based on fuzzy logic
• An improved artificial fish swarm algorithm for traffic signal control
• Modelling of traffic capacity under traffic accident
• Research on optimal collaborative method for microgrid environmental and economic dispatch in grid-connected mode
• Simulation and analysis of user-side transaction technology for energy blockchain considering multi-chain structure
• WLAN indoor positioning method based on gradient boosting and particle filtering
• iCampusGuide: a multi-purpose guide system in intelligent campus
• A DT-CWT-based infrared-visible image fusion method for smart city

Research pick: Saving the IoT from botnets - "Security in the internet of things: botnet detection in software-defined networks by deep learning techniques"

The advent of the Internet of Thing, essentially smart devices with connectivity to the internet has wrought many benefits, but with it comes the problem of how to cope with third party users with malicious or criminal intent.

Ivan Letteri, Giuseppe Della Penna, and Giovanni De Gasperis of the Department of Information Engineering at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, writing in the International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking have looked at an aspect of IoT insecurity, attacks on smart devices by so-called botnets. A botnet is a network of computers or other devices that have been repurposed by a third party, often surreptitiously and almost always with improper use the ultimate aim. The improper use might be for personal gain, financial or otherwise, sabotage or other destructive or disruptive purposes.

Botnets are propagated through malware and might be operated by malicious individuals, hacker groups, corporate entities, criminal gangs, organized crime cartels, or indeed rogue states. One particularly insidious purpose to which they are put is to apply a directed attack on a target’s computers so that they are overwhelmed. Such a distributed denial of service attack, leads, as the name would suggest to disruption of the normal computing activities of the target. This might be simply for the purposes of sabotage, perhaps to interfere with the day to day operations of an individual, company or even a government. But, often the dDOS is carried out so that while the system is overwhelmed, its security might be breached at another exposed entry point.

With IoT and other networked smart devices being recruited by botnet operators for nefarious purposed, the team has focused on how such dDOS attacks might be detected and halted by the system using deep learning techniques. Obviously, it is difficult to distinguish between normal activity and activity from distributed sources that are designed to overwhelm a system. To the system, it simply sees lots of requests and knowing which are from genuine users and which malicious cannot easily be discerned. The team points out that with the rise of software-defined networking (SDN), which is increasingly replacing conventional networking in IoT, the problem is becoming more acute.

The team’s deep learning approach has been tested on two state-of-the-art frameworks, i.e., Keras and TensorFlow, and found to have 97 percent accuracy in detecting botnet attacks on the systems.

Letteri, I., Della Penna, G. and De Gasperis, G. (2019) ‘Security in the internet of things: botnet detection in software-defined networks by deep learning techniques‘, Int. J. High Performance Computing and Networking, Vol. 15, Nos. 3/4, pp.170-182.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

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

• Macroeconomic and institutional determinants of firms'choices of capital structure in Nigeria: a system-GMM approach
• Differences in horizontally individualist and vertically collectivist consumers' environmental behaviour: a regulatory focus perspective
• An analysis of the preferences of the elderly in relation to retail stores
• The competitive uncertainty, marketing and non-market roots of capability deployment and organisational performance in Turkey
• Relationships between sales managers and sales ethical behaviour: emerging market perspective

New Editor for International Journal of Public Law and Policy

Prof. Giuseppe Mastruzzo from the International University College of Turin in Italy has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Public Law and Policy.

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:

• An insight into mobile advertising and its impact on the resources of handheld devices: a survey
• A five-layer architecture for big data processing and analytics
• A novel entropy-based dynamic data placement strategy for data intensive applications in Hadoop clusters
• Hybridisation of classifiers for anomaly detection in big data
• Fast approaches for semantic service composition in big data environment

Research pick: Tracking the spread of disease on social media - "Real-time disease detection and analysis system using social media contents"

For many years, researchers have turned to the public logs of search engine terms to help them track the spread of disease. They can analyse the keywords and phrases that people use and when they become interested in a disease or have symptoms. Much value has been recognised in this kind of disease tracking and it has been used to research influenza outbreaks, the spread of MERS and the Zika virus, and other health problems. At the time of writing, it is approximately three months since we first recognised the emergence of a new coronavirus in China that would ultimately become known as the pathogen to cause the novel pandemic disease, Covid-19.

Writing in the International Journal of Web and Grid Services, in rather prescient work undertaken long before the disease name Covid-19 had been coined, a team from Gachon University in Korea, was asking whether social media content might be harvested to allow researchers to spot the emergence of new diseases and to track them once they appear.

SoYeop Yoo, DaeHo Kim, SungMin Yang, and OkRan Jeong of the Department of Software at Gachon University, explain how social media has become as a sensor for a wide range of topics in almost every area of human endeavour. Mining the vast daily output of this realm is a daunting task, but it can be done and many trends in politics, finance, science, health, medicine, entertainment, celebrity, and beyond can be tracked.

The team has now built a workflow that allows them to carry out real-time processing of social media data and to develop a model that manages the data and can detect the emergence of disease accurately. “If we can detect information about an infectious disease in real time, we can cope with it more quickly,” the team suggests. Moreover, “We can obtain information about the symptoms of specific diseases and hospital information by analysing various opinions and information on the disease.”

Yoo, S., Kim, D., Yang, S. and Jeong, O. (2020) ‘Real-time disease detection and analysis system using social media contents’, Int. J. Web and Grid Services, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.22-38.

Research pick: Voting on a blockchain - "Auditable blockchain voting system – the blockchain technology toward the electronic voting process"

The “blockchain” concept on which cryptocurrencies work might be extrapolated to many other areas of life, such as voting systems, where it’s incontrovertible chain of decisions and evidence could ensure validity in a political or other election.

Writing in the International Journal of Web and Grid Services, a team from Lodz University of Technology, in Łódź, Poland, explain how it was the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, introduced by an individual (or a group) under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, that revealed the blockchain concept. The blockchain concept was invented to be used to give value to a cryptocurrency but its description shows that it might be used in other areas equally as well:

A blockchain is essentially an open and distributed ledger, a growing list of records (blocks) that are linked sequentially and encrypted. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a mathematical Merkle tree). The nature of a blockchain means that previous entries cannot be modified without all users seeing the modification, which makes it tamperproof.

Aneta Poniszewska-Marańda, Michał Pawlak, and Jakub Guziur of the Institute of Information Technology at LUT, explain that current electronic voting systems have their pros and cons. However, a common problem with all of the approaches used so far is that they suffer from inadequate transparency and auditability. There are four main approaches to electronic voting – dedicated voting machines, voting with optical scanning voting machines, voting with electronic ballot printers, and voting through the internet. Each has benefits, each has drawbacks. Moreover, the field is very fragmented by diverse technology and solutions to each of those main four methods.

This, the team suggests, is where blockchain would come into its own. Blockchain could underpin an existing approach to electronic voting but add the requisite ability to supervise the process and make it auditable to preclude fraud. Not only might the blockchain approach be used to prevent fraud it opens up the voting system to independent inspection beyond those holding the ballot, whether government, company board or other organization. It opens it up to being audited and inspected without compromising voter anonymity or the integrity of the result.

In theory.

The team concedes that there are limitations to even the blockchain approach at the moment in that voter anonymity might be compromised to a limited degree by the proximity of given blocks in the system. However, they suggest this will be surmountable with additional research.

Poniszewska-Marańda, A., Pawlak, M. and Guziur, J. (2020) ‘Auditable blockchain voting system – the blockchain technology toward the electronic voting process’, Int. J. Web and Grid Services, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.1–21.