Research pick: Native reforestation benefits biodiversity - "Greater biodiversity in regenerated native tropical dry evergreen forest compared to non-native Acacia regeneration in Southeastern India"

Timber harvest and agriculture have had an enormous impact on biodiversity in many parts of the world over the last two hundred years of the industrial era. One such region is 20 to 50 kilometre belt of tropical dry evergreen forest that lies inland from the southeastern coast of India. Efforts to regenerate the biodiversity has been more successful when native tropical dry evergreen forest has been reinstated rather than where non-native Acacia planting has been carried out in regeneration efforts, according to research published in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Review.

Christopher Frignoca and John McCarthy of the Department of Atmospheric Science and Chemistry at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, USA, Aviram Rozin of Sadhana Forest in Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India, and Leonard Reitsma of the Department of Biological Sciences at Plymouth explain how reforestation can be used to rebuild the ecosystem and increases population sizes and diversity of flora and fauna. The team has looked at efforts to rebuild the ecosystem of Sadhana Forest. An area of 28 hectares had its water table replenished through intensive soil moisture conservation. The team has observed rapid growth of planted native species and germination of two species of dormant Acacia seeds.

The team’s standard biological inventory of this area revealed 75 bird, 8 mammal, 12 reptile, 5 amphibian, 55 invertebrate species, and 22 invertebrate orders present in the area. When they looked closely at the data obtained from bird abundance at point count stations, invertebrate sweep net captures and leaf count detections, as well as Odonate and Lepidopteran visual observations along fixed-paced transects they saw far greater diversity in those areas where native plants thrived rather than the non-native Acacia.

“Sadhana Forest’s reforestation demonstrates the potential to restore ecosystems and replenish water tables, vital components to reversing ecosystem degradation, and corroborates reforestation efforts in other regions of the world,” the team writes. “Sadhana Forest serves as a model for effective reforestation and ecosystem restoration,” the researchers conclude.

Frignoca, C., McCarthy, J., Rozin, A. and Reitsma, L. (2021) ‘Greater biodiversity in regenerated native tropical dry evergreen forest compared to non-native Acacia regeneration in Southeastern India’, Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp.1–18.

Research pick: Protection from coronavirus and zero-day pathogens - "Disinfectant chamber for killing body germs with integrated FAR-UVC chamber (for COVID-19)"

Researchers in India are developing a disinfection chamber that integrates a system that can deactivate coronavirus particles. The team reports details in the International Journal of Design Engineering.

As we enter the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are signs that the causative virus SARS-CoV-2 and its variants may be with us for many years to come despite the unprecedented speed with vaccines against the disease have been developed, tested, and for some parts of the world rolled out. Sangam Sahu, Shivam Krishna Pandey, and Atul Mishra of the BML Munjal University suggest that we could adapt screening technology commonly used in security for checking whether a person is entering an area, such as airports, hospitals, or government buildings, for instance, carrying a weapon, explosives, or contraband goods.

Such a system might be augmented with a body temperature check for spotting a person with a fever that might be a symptom of COVID-19 or another contagious viral infection. They add that the screening system might also incorporate technology that can kill viruses on surfaces with a quick flash of ultraviolet light or a spray of chemical disinfectant.

Airborne microbial diseases represent a significant ongoing challenge to public health around the world. While COVID-19 is top of the agenda at the moment, seasonal and pandemic influenza are of perennial concern as is the emergence of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis. Moreover, we are likely to see other emergent pathogens as we have many times in the past any one of which could lead to an even greater pandemic catastrophe than COVID-19.

Screening and disinfecting systems as described by Sahu could become commonplace and perhaps act as an obligatory frontline defense against the spread of such emergent pathogens even before they are identified. Such an approach to unknown viruses is well known in the computer industry where novel malware emerges, so-called 0-day viruses, before the antivirus software is updated to recognize it and so blanket screening and disinfection software is often used.

Sahu, S., Pandey, S.K. and Mishra, A. (2021) ‘Disinfectant chamber for killing body germs with integrated FAR-UVC chamber (for COVID-19)’, Int. J. Design Engineering, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.1–9.

Free open access article available: "Greater biodiversity in regenerated native tropical dry evergreen forest compared to non-native Acacia regeneration in Southeastern India"

The following paper, "Greater biodiversity in regenerated native tropical dry evergreen forest compared to non-native Acacia regeneration in Southeastern India" (Interdisciplinary Environmental Review 21(1) 2021), is freely available for download as an open access article.

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

Research pick: Wetware data retrieval - "Forensic analysis and data recovery from water-submerged hard drives"

A computer hard drive can be a rich source of evidence in a forensic investigation…but only if the device is intact and undamaged otherwise many additional steps to retrieve incriminating data from within are needed and not always successful even in the most expert hands. Research published in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics considers the data retrieval problems for investigators faced with a hard drive that has been submerged in water.

Alicia Francois and Alastair Nisbet of the Cybersecurity Research Laboratory at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, point out that under pressure suspects in an investigation may attempt to destroy digital evidence prior to a seizure by the authorities. A common approach is simply to put a hard drive in water in the hope that damage to the circuitry and the storage media within will render the data inaccessible.

The team has looked at the impact of water ingress on solid-state and conventional spinning magnetic disc hard drives and the timescale over which irreparable damage occurs and how this relates to the likelihood of significant data loss from the device. Circuitry and other components begin to corrode rather quickly following water ingress. However, if a device can be retrieved and dried within seven days, there is a reasonable chance of it still working and the data being accessible.

“Ultimately, water submersion can damage a drive quickly but with the necessary haste and skills, data may still be recoverable from a water-damaged hard drive,” the team writes.

However, if the device has been submerged in saltwater, then irreparable damage can occur within 30 minutes. The situation is worse for a solid-state drive which will essentially be destroyed within a minute of saltwater ingress. The research provides a useful guide for forensic investigators retrieving hard drives that have been submerged in water.

Francois, A. and Nisbet, A. (2021) ‘Forensic analysis and data recovery from water-submerged hard drives’, Int. J. Electronic Security and Digital Forensics, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.219–231.

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:

• The concept of sovereignty in Ghanaian constitutionalism
• GDPR: a critical review of the practical, ethical and constitutional aspects one year after it entered into force
• Contemporary development and Gandhian perspective: an analysis of state of humanism in present
• The rational nature of possession liability rule in non-authoritative possessor responsibility from point of view Islamic law
• The practice, adherence and contravention of human rights of public sectors governance in Amhara National Regional States, Ethiopia

Research pick: Of alcohol and bootlaces - "Association between alcohol consumption and telomere length"

There is no consensus across medical science as to whether or not there is a safe lower limit on alcohol consumption nor whether a small amount of alcohol is beneficial. The picture is complicated by the various congeners, such as polyphenols and other substances that are present in different concentrations in different types of alcoholic beverage, such as red and white wine, beers and ales, ciders, and spirits. Moreover, while, there has been a decisive classification of alcohol consumption as a cause of cancer, there is strong evidence that small quantities have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system.

Now, writing in the International Journal of Web and Grid Services, a team from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the USA, has looked at how a feature of our genetic material, DNA, relates to ageing and cancer and investigated a possible connection with alcohol consumption. The ends of our linear chromosomes are capped by repeated sequences of DNA base units that act as protective ends almost analogous to the stiff aglets on each end of a bootlace.

These protective sections are known as telomeres. Which each cell replication the length of the telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes get shorter. This limits the number of times a cell can replicate before there is insufficient protection for the DNA between the ends that encodes the proteins that make up the cell. Once the telomeres are damaged beyond repair or gone the cell will die. This degradative process has been linked to the limited lifespan of the cells in our bodies and the aging process itself.

Yan Pei of The University of Aizu in Aizuwakamatsu, Japan, and colleagues Jianqiang Li, Yu Guan, and Xi Xu of Beijing University of Technology, China, Jason Hung of the National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan, and Weiliang Qiu of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, have carried out a meta-analysis of the scientific literature. Their analysis suggests that telomere length is associated with alcohol consumption. Given that shorter telomeres, before they reach the critical length, can nevertheless lead to genomic instability, this alcohol-associated shortening could offer insight into how cancerous tumour growth might be triggered.

Telomere shortening is a natural part of the ageing process. However, it is influenced by various factors that are beyond our control such as paternal age at birth, ethnicity, gender, age, telomere maintenance genes, genetic mutations of the telomeres. However, telomere length is also affected by inflammation and oxidative stress, environmental, psychosocial, behavioural exposures, and for some of those factors we may have limited control. For others, such as chronic exposure to large quantities of alcohol we have greater control.

Li, J., Guan, Y., Xu, X., Pei, Y., Hung, J.C. and Qiu, W. (2021) ‘Association between alcohol consumption and telomere length’, Int. J. Web and Grid Services, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp.36–59.

Free open access article available: "A real-time motion planning scheme for collaborative robots using HRI-based cost function"

The following paper, "A real-time motion planning scheme for collaborative robots using HRI-based cost function" (International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation 8(1) 2021), is freely available for download as an open access article.

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

Special issue published: "Regulation and Judicial Review of Constitutional Amendments for the Defence of Democracy"

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies 8(1/2) 2021

• We the people: federalism and constitutional reform
• Direct citizen participation in the constitutional reform
• The process of reform of the Spanish Constitution and parliamentary minorities
• Constitutional reform: reflections from the principle of equality between men and women in the framework of the 1978 Spanish Constitution
• Amending by interpreting: the constitutional jurisdiction as amendment power
• When backlashes and overrides do not scare: the power to review constitutional amendments and the case of Brazil's Supreme Court
• Judicial review of constitutional amendments: a legitimate defence of democracy through a counter-majoritarian power?
• Procedures for the review of constitutionality of constitutional amendments in the Spanish legal system
• Breaking the silence: challenging legal limits to pursue human rights violations
• The denial of right to freedom of association and collective bargaining: breach of labour rights causing the consequential violation of human rights

New Editor for International Journal of Applied Nonlinear Science

Prof. Wen-Feng Wang from the Interscience Institute of Management and Technology in India and Shanghai Institute of Technology in China has been appointed to take over editorship of the International Journal of Applied Nonlinear Science.

Research pick: Quality after the pandemic - "Quality insight: product quality certification post COVID-19 using systems framework from academic program accreditation"

Adedeji Badiru of the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio, USA, discusses the notion of quality insight in the International Journal of Quality Engineering and Technology and how this relates to motivating researchers and developers working on quality certification programs after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the realm of product quality, we depend on certification based on generally accepted standards to ensure high quality. Badiru writes that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to serious disruption to production facilities and led to the upending of normal quality engineering and technology programs. In the aftermath of the pandemic, there will be a pressing need to redress this problem and its impact on quality management processes may, as with many other areas of normal life, continue to be felt for a long time.

Badiru suggests that now is the time to develop new approaches to ensure that we retrieve the pre-COVID quality levels. He suggests that in the area of quality certification, we must look at other methods in this field, perhaps borrowing from other areas of quality oversight. One mature area from which the new-normal of certification might borrow is academic accreditation.

The work environment has changed beyond recognition through the pandemic and we are unlikely to revert to old approaches entirely. Indeed, the pandemic has already necessitated the urgent application of existing quantitative and qualitative tools and techniques to other areas, such as work design, workforce development, and the form of the curriculum in education. Action now, from the systems perspective in engineering and technology, “will get a company properly prepared for the quality certification of the future, post-COVID-19 pandemic,” he writes. This will allow research and development of new products to satisfy the triage of cost, time, and quality requirements as we ultimately emerge from the pandemic.

Badiru, A. (2021) ‘Quality insight: product quality certification post COVID-19 using systems framework from academic program accreditation’, Int. J. Quality Engineering and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp.218–227.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Environmental Engineering

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

• Modelling of the predicted thermal comfort of the metro passengers under different crowd densities
• Analysis of vegetation community landscape structure based on eco-tourism management
• The influencing factors study on environmental responsibility motive of oil and gas enterprises
• Characterisation of nano-sized particles in chemical mechanical polishing wastewater
• Evapotranspiration for cotton in plain and hilly areas in Chuadanga and Rangamati districts in Bangladesh using Penman method
• Comparison of performance of three different seeding sludge under three different hyper-thermophilic temperatures

Special issue published: "Emerging Trends in Renewable and Sustainable Energy"

International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology 11(4) 2020

• Performance improvement of Savonius turbine by design modifications: a review
• Parametric analysis of Scheffler concentrator with convex receiver for direct steam generation
• A computational fluid dynamics study of a condenser for condensation of bio-oil vapour from fast pyrolysis of biomass
• Inspection of a SPV-coupled IEEE 14 bus system during fault condition
• Design and implementation of interleaved high gain DC-DC converter

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management

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

• Factors decomposition of carbon emissions embodied in China's agricultural export
• The impacts of Chinese firm ownership and manager leadership on subordinate work values
• Financial distress analysis of 'Special Treatment' companies in China
• Tokenism in Chinese work organisations? Subordinate-supervisor gender combination and worker's organisational commitment in China

Research pick: Spotting and stopping online abuse - "AI to prevent cyber-violence: harmful behaviour detection in social media"

Social media has brought huge benefits to many of those around the world with the resources to access its apps and websites. Indeed, there are billions of people using the popular platforms every month in almost, if not, every country of the world. Researchers writing in the International Journal of High Performance Systems Architecture, point out that as with much in life there are downsides that counter the positives of social media. One might refer to one such negative facet of social media as “cyber violence”.

Randa Zarnoufi of the FSR Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, and colleagues suggest that the number of victims of this new form of hostility is growing day by day and is having a strongly detrimental effect on the psychological wellbeing of too many people. A perspective that has been little investigated in this area with regard to reducing the level of cyber violence in the world is to consider the psychological status and the emotional dimension of the perpetrators themselves. New understanding of what drives those people to commit heinous acts against others in the online world may improve our response to it and open up new ways to address the problem at its source rather than attempting to simply filter, censor, or protect victims directly.

The team has analysed social media updates using Ensemble Machine Learning and the Plutchik wheel of basic emotions to extract the character of those updates in the context of cyber violence, bullying and trolling behaviour. The analysis draws the perhaps obvious, but nevertheless highly meaningful, conclusion that there is a significant association between an individual’s emotional state and the personal propensity to harmful intent in the realm of social media. Importantly, the work shows how this emotional state can be detected and perhaps the perpetrator of cyber violence be approached with a view to improving their emotional state and reducing the negative impact their emotions would otherwise have on the people with whom they engage online.

This is very much the first step in this approach to addressing the serious and growing problem of cyber violence. The team adds that they will train their system to detect specific issues in social media updates that are associated with harassment with respect to sexuality, appearance, intellectual capacity, and political persuasion.

Zarnoufi, R., Boutbi, M. and Abik, M. (2020) ‘AI to prevent cyber-violence: harmful behaviour detection in social media’, Int. J. High Performance Systems Architecture, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.182–191

Special issue published: "Leveraging Opportunistic Networks Using Smart Wireless Digital Devices and IoT for Intelligent Communication Systems: Challenges and Emerging Trends"

International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications 12(2/3) 2021

• A novel genetic algorithm with CDF5/3 filter-based lifting scheme for optimal sensor placement
• Semantic interoperability in the internet of things - state-of-the-art and prospects
• Impact of contacts for message copies, mobile nodes and buffer size in delay-tolerant networks
• Parameter aware utility proportional fairness scheduling technique in a communication network
• TASRP: a trust aware secure routing protocol for wireless sensor networks
• Probabilistic routing protocol with firefly particle swarm optimisation for delay tolerant networks enhanced with chaos theory
• Hierarchical search-based routing protocol for infrastructure-based opportunistic networks
• Managing the levels of CO2 in a tunnel using oppnet virtual machine

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

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

• Development of automated manual transmission system using fuzzy logic control
• An intelligent and multi-terrain navigational environment monitoring robotic platform with wireless sensor network and internet of robotic things
• Bearings degradation monitoring indicators based on discarded projected space information and piecewise linear representation
• Robotic manipulator trajectory optimisation using an improved modified bat algorithm
• Crawling and foot trajectory modification control for legged robot on uneven terrain

Free open access article available: "Challenges of plutonium fuel fabrication: explaining the decline of spent fuel recycling"

The following paper, "Challenges of plutonium fuel fabrication: explaining the decline of spent fuel recycling" (International Journal of Nuclear Governance, Economy and Ecology 4(4) 2019), 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 Web and Grid Services

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

• An efficient algorithm and tool for detecting dangerous website vulnerabilities
• Optimal planning of RDS considering PV uncertainty with different load models using artificial intelligence techniques
• Implementation and evaluation of a web-based regional culture inheritance support system
• Real-time disease detection and analysis system using social media contents
• Auditable blockchain voting system - the blockchain technology toward the electronic voting process

Special issue published: "Recent Advancements in Intelligent Systems"

International Journal of High Performance Systems Architecture 9(4) 2020

• Virtual network functions placement in 5G architecture: a survey and a multi-agent approach
• New intelligent strategy for encryption decisional support system
• AI to prevent cyber-violence: harmful behaviour detection in social media
• Semantic approach using unified and summarised ontologies for analysing data from social media
• An efficient privacy solution for electronic health records in cloud computing
• RETRO +: SQL to SPARQL improvement of the RETRO framework

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Technology Management

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

• Artificial intelligence and business applications, an introduction
• The necessity of anterior knowledge exchange activities for technological collaboration and innovation performance improvement
• Feasibility of waste gasification technologies in the USA
• The two faces of R&D investments: push and pull factors
• How companies respond to growing research costs: cost control or value creation?

Special issue published: "Web Of Things and its Intelligent Data Processing Services"

International Journal of Web and Grid Services 17(1) 2021

• Data analysis of simulated WoT-based anti-crime scenario
• A quadratic fusion estimating model based on the clustering kernel for real-time data in web of things
• Association between alcohol consumption and telomere length
• QoS-prioritised media delivery with adaptive data throughput in IoT-based home networks

Research pick: Me too #metoo - "Significance of the #metoo movement for the prevention of sexual harassment as perceived by people entering the job market"

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious problem. To address it, we need a systematic, multistage preventive approach, according to researchers writing in the International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion. One international response to sexual harassment problems across a range of industries but initially emerging from the entertainment industry was the “#metoo” movement. Within this movement victims of harassment and abuse told their stories through social media and other outlets to raise awareness of this widespread problem and to advocate for new legal protections and societal change.

Anna Michalkiewicz and Marzena Syper-Jedrzejak of the University of Lodz, Poland, describe how they have explored perception of the #metoo movement with regards to in reducing the incidence of sexual harassment. “Our findings show that #metoo may have had such preventive potential but it got ‘diluted’ due to various factors, for example, cultural determinants and lack of systemic solutions,” the team writes. They suggest that because of these limitations the #metoo movement is yet to reach its full potential.

The team’s study considered 122 students finishing their master’s degrees in management studies and readying themselves to enter the job market. They were surveyed about the categorisation of psychosocial hazards – such as sexual harassment – in the workplace that cause stress and other personal problems as opposed to the more familiar physical hazards.

“Effective prevention of [sexual harassment] requires awareness but also motivation and competence to choose and implement in the organisations adequate measures that would effectively change the organisational culture and work conditions,” the team writes. The #metoo movement brought prominence to the issues, but the team suggests that it did not lead to the requisite knowledge and practical competence that would facilitate prevention. They point out that the much-needed social changes cannot come about within a timescale of a few months of campaigning. Cultural changes need more time and a willing media to keep attention focused on the problem and how it might be addressed. There is also a pressing need for changes in the law to be considered to help eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Michalkiewicz, A. and Syper-Jedrzejak, M. (2020) ‘Significance of the #metoo movement for the prevention of sexual harassment as perceived by people entering the job market’, Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.343–361.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications are now available here for free:

• Hybrid metaheuristic for generalised assignment
• Slime mould foraging: an inspiration for algorithmic design
• Sentiment analysis: an empirical comparison between various training algorithms for artificial neural network
• Evaluating non-deterministic signal machine relative complexity: a case study on dominating set problem

Research pick: Data mining big data news - "When big data made the headlines: mining the text of big data coverage in the news media"

While the term “big data” has become something of a buzz phrase in recent years it has a solid foundation in computer science in many contexts and as such has emerged into the public consciousness via the media and even government initiatives in many parts of the world. A North American team has looked at the media and undertaken a mining operation to unearth nuggets of news regarding this term.

Murtaza Haider of the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada and Amir Gandomi of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, USA, explain how big data-driven analytics emerged as one of the most sought-after business strategies of the decade. They have now used natural language processing and text mining algorithms to find the focus and tenor of news coverage surrounding big data. They mined a five million-word body of news coverage for references to the novelty of big data, showcasing the usual suspects in big data geographies and industries.

“The insights gained from the text analysis show that big data news coverage indeed evolved where the initial focus on the promise of big data moderated over time,” the team found. There work also demonstrates how text mining and NLP algorithms are potent tools for news content analysis.

The team points out that academic journals have been the main source of trusted and unbiased advice regarding computing technologies, large databases, and scalable analytics, it is the popular and trade press that are the information source for over-stretched executives. It was the popular media that became what the team describes as “the primary channel for spreading awareness about ‘big data’ as a marketing concept”. They add that the news media certainly helped popularise innovative ideas being discussed in the academic literature.

Moreover, the latter has had to play catchup during the last decade on sharing the news. That said, much of the news coverage during this time has been about the novelty and the promise of big data rather than the proof of principles that are needed for it to proceed and mature as a discipline. Indeed, there are many big data clichés propagated in an often uncritical popular media suggesting that big data analytics is some kind of information panacea. In contrast, the more reserved nature of academic publication knows only too well that big data does not represent a cure-all for socio-economic ills nor does it have unlimited potential.

Haider, M. and Gandomi, A. (2021) ‘When big data made the headlines: mining the text of big data coverage in the news media’, Int. J. Services Technology and Management, Vol. 27, Nos. 1/2, pp.23–50.

Increases in journal issue frequency

The following journals have increased the frequency of their annual issues as shown below:

• European Journal of International Management from 6 to 8.
• Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Applied Decision Sciences from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Bioinformatics Research and Applications from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Business and Systems Research from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Cloud Computing from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology from 6 to 8.
• International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management from 8 to 12.
• International Journal of Information and Computer Security from 8 to 12.
• International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Learning and Change from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Mathematics in Operational Research from 8 to 12.
• International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking from 4 to 6.
• International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management from 6 to 8.
• International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling from 6 to 8.
• International Journal of Trade and Global Markets from 4 to 6.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Environment and Health

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

• Pollution in the Uruguay - Argentina border: critical data analysis from two rivers and the pulp mill effluent
• Atmospheric gas-particle partitioning of E-EHMC and Z-EHMC estimated from their liquid vapour pressures at 298.15 K
• Safe disposal of solid wastes generated during arsenic removal in drinking water
• Study of physicochemical changes of polluted sediments from Reconquista river basin (Argentina) after remediation processes
• Applying reactive transport modelling in a chromium-contaminated site in the Matanza-Riachuelo basin, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Use of speciation modelling of heavy metals in Los Patos lagoon, Argentina, to improve waterbody management

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering

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

• Evaluating the trustworthiness of BPEL processes based on data dependency and XBFG
• Deep learning for collective anomaly detection
• Aligning molecular sequences using hybrid bioinspired algorithm in GPU
• A novel coverless text information hiding method based on double-tags and twice-send
• Parallelisation of practical shared sampling alpha matting with OpenMP
• A new neural architecture for feature extraction of remote sensing data
• Recognition of the landslide disasters with extreme learning machine
• Multi-class instance-incremental framework for classification in fully dynamic graphs
• Dynamic input domain reduction for test data generation with iterative partitioning
• A universal designated multi verifiers content extraction signature scheme
• Probabilistic rough set-based band selection method for hyperspectral data classification
• Optimised tags with time attenuation recommendation algorithm based on tripartite graphs network
• A malware variants detection methodology with an opcode-based feature learning method and a fast density-based clustering algorithm
• An anchor node selection mechanism-based node localisation for mines using wireless sensor networks
• A holistic IT infrastructure management framework

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology are now available here for free:

• FCM: a component-based platform with explicit support of crosscutting and dynamic features
• DANP-based method for determining the adoption of hospital information system
• Cloud-based electricity consumption analysis using neural network
• Comparison among different tools for tolerance analysis of rigid assemblies
• A novel ANN-based four-dimensional two-disk hyperchaotic dynamical system, bifurcation analysis, circuit realisation and FPGA-based TRNG implementation
• Hand-drawn electronic component recognition using deep learning algorithm
• Adaptive neural-fuzzy and backstepping controller for port-Hamiltonian systems

Research pick: Predicting canine pack patterns - "Map simulation of dogs’ behaviour using population density of probabilistic model"

Human understanding of animal behaviour is important not only from a purely scientific perspective but also from the perspective of disease prevention and control. This is especially poignant when considering those animals of vectors of disease that can be transmitted to humans and perhaps even underpin the emergence of novel pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus which has led to the current global Covid-19 pandemic.

Writing in the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, a team from Thailand has looked at canine behaviour and how improved understanding might help in rabies control through better animal vaccination programs. Better understanding might also be useful in understanding behaviour when there is a major outbreak. The team has modelled the behaviour of individual dogs and packs (canine communities) and the way in which individual animals may explore new territory. They look closely at the “tie-strength” between any two dogs. They have validated their model on a region of the island of Saibai in northwestern Torres Strait islands, Australia. Saibai lies off the south-eastern coast of New Guinea.

The simulated data fit with actual tracking data to within just over 6 percent accuracy in terms of tie-strength. As such, the team has now simulated canine behaviour in three Thai cities and demonstrated a difference in how tie-strength affects behaviour. This, they suggest, may reflect significantly higher average numbers of dogs in a given area, the larger group distances and bigger connections between dogs and their packs.

The team suggests that the same approach to modelling canine behaviour might be extended to the walking behaviour of other animals with relative ease.

Jiwattanakul, J., Youngjitikornkun, C., Kusakunniran, W., Wiratsudakul, A., Thanapongtharm, W. and Leelahapongsathon, K. (2021) ‘Map simulation of dogs’ behaviour using population density of probabilistic model’, Int. J. Computer Applications in Technology, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp.14–24.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development

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

• Factors influencing employees' experience after business process redesign
• Designing a marketing model based on entrepreneurship attributes
• Learning preferences and brand management in the Thai housing estate industry
• Convergence analysis of the entrepreneurship start-up barriers
• CSR pyramid, CSR in education development and stakeholder's satisfaction: evidence from the banking industry in Bangladesh

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital

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

• Intellectual capital and corporate financial performance in India's central public sector enterprises
• Impact of intellectual capital on innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan
• Intellectual capital and financial performance of state-owned banking: evidence from Indonesia
• Intellectual capital and firm performance in Vietnam 2012-2016
• Talent management practices impact on Malaysian SMIs managers job performance

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Information and Decision Sciences

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

• The impact of agricultural technology adoption on income inequality: a propensity score matching analysis for rural Ethiopia
• Enhancing the performance of sentiment analysis task on product reviews by handling both local and global context
• A rule-based approach for dynamic analytic hierarchy process decision-making
• A new approach agent-based for distributing association rules by business to improve decision process in ERP systems

Research pick: Bio-inspired algorithm detects early signs of breast cancer - "Modified bio-inspired algorithms for diagnosis of breast cancer using aggregation"

A computer algorithm based on a biological process could be used to detect breast cancer more effectively, according to new research published in the International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications. A team from India has improved on earlier bio-inspired algorithms to develop a particle swarm optimisation and firefly algorithm that boosts detection accuracy by up to 2 percent taking it to as much as 97 percent accuracy.

Moolchand Sharma and Shubbham Gupta of the Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology in New Delhi and Suman Deswal of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology in Murthal, Haryana, explain that breast cancer in women is common the world over and mortality rates are the second-highest and rising year by year. Early detection is critical to timely intervention that can improve prognosis and reduce the number of women who die prematurely from this disease.

The team points out that experiments with many different types of computer algorithms have been researched in recent years with a view to finding a way to automate the detection process from mammograms and improve the positive tests and lower false-positive results from screen programs. Their aggregated algorithm inspired by biological processes has been tested on archived data from the Breast Cancer Wisconsin (Diagnostic) Data Set and shown to have an accuracy of at least 93 percent. By adding a random forest classifier that accuracy can then be boosted to 97 percent, the team reports.

The team points out that there is still scope for further optimization and ti improve that accuracy perhaps by focusing more on the identification of key features in the scan images, such as texture and smoothness. They also add that the same approach might be readily extended to the diagnosis of other diseases by training the algorithm on appropriate data in the same way that they trained their algorithm on breast cancer data.

Sharma, M., Gupta, S. and Deswal, S. (2021) ‘Modified bio-inspired algorithms for diagnosis of breast cancer using aggregation’, Int. J. Innovative Computing and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp.37–47.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Advanced Operations Management

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

• Analysis of the interrelationships between KPIs in a small business through temporal causal models
• A proposed conceptual action plan for identification, assessment and mitigation of supply chain risks
• Assessing barriers to implementation of QMPs in Indian organisations - an empirical investigation
• Optimal production-distribution planning in electromotor manufacturing industries: a case study

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

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

• Measuring e-service quality: a review of literature
• An approach to reengineering applied to control of container logistics cost using the PERT network
• Innovative behaviour and the performance of technology-based knowledge-intensive business services: an empirical study
• Impacts of day trading on the intraday pattern of market quality
• Service supply chain incentive strategy: from the perspective of win-win

Special issue published: "Applications of Computer And Engineering Technology in Enabling Technologies and Industrial Case Studies"

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 14(2) 2021

• Does the board of directors' characteristics affect the amount of capital raised in IPO?
• Thai pottery industry economic innovation on the edge pottery purchasing decision factors Dan Kwian pottery village - a case study (purchasing decision factors case study of Dan Kwian pottery village)
• Could the next Indonesian income tax law adopt to the concept of income under IFRS?
• Resource-abundance regions of Russia and «dark» side of innovations (cases of Kuzbass and Krasnoyarsk regions)
• Revealed comparative advantage and constant market share analysis of Indonesian cinnamon in the world market
• Owner-manager objectives as significant driving factor of family business performance
• Mapping innovation in Indonesian cooperative: priorities, obstacles and challenges to survive

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Signal and Imaging Systems Engineering

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

• Modelling the nonlinear oscillations due to vertical bouncing using a multi-scale restoring force system identification method
• Copy-move image forgery detection using direct fuzzy transform and ring projection
• Early detection of Parkinson's disease through multimodal features using machine learning approaches
• Comparative analysis of two leading evolutionary intelligence approaches for multilevel thresholding
• A new model based approach for tennis court tracking in real time
• An automated vision-based algorithm for out of context detection in images

Special issue published: "Applications of Computer And Engineering Technology in Enabling Technologies and Industrial Case Studies"

International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 14(2) 2021

• Impact of the lossy image compression on the biometric system accuracy: a case study of hand biometrics
• An extended infrastructure security scheme for multi-cloud systems with verifiable inter-server communication protocol
• Performance analysis of biorthogonal filter design using the lifting-based scheme for medical image transmission
• MOEMS-based accelerometer sensor using photonic crystal for vibration monitoring in an automotive system
• Dye sensitised solar power generating window: towards environmentally sustainable energy efficiency in ICT
• An empirical analysis of the statistical learning models for different categories of cross-project defect prediction
• Heterogeneous wireless network selection by combining GRA and VIKOR under a fuzzy environment
• Parameter extraction of PSP MOSFET model using particle swarm optimisation

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:

• Coronavirus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2) and supply chain resilience: a research note
• Contributions of Industry 4.0 to lean management within the supply chain operations reference model
• Supplier selection in multiple sourcing: a proactive approach to manage the supply chain risk
• Integrating intellectual capital across supply chains: an innovation perspective
• Sourcing strategy across product life cycle stages: relevance of multiple-mode governance

Research pick: Living with radioactivity - "Living in radioactive environments: a non-human perspective"

Recently, environmental protections have been put into place to safeguard non-human animals, plants, and other living things that exist in radioactive places. Indeed, radiation protection of non-humans has been written into the International Commission on Radiation Protection) framework.

New research in the International Journal of Low Radiation suggests that the framework in using a reference animal and plant approach matching the anthropocentric ‘reference human’ approach has significant shortcomings. While this approach can be implemented relatively easily, it wholly ignores the biology involved in the management of radiation damage in wild populations. Moreover, it simply ignores the complexity and interdependence of natural ecosystems.

Carmel Mothersill and Colin Seymour of the Department of Biology at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario, Canada, point out that internationally a more ecocentric and holistic approach is needed. Indeed, it is being looked at by some stakeholders. They point out that problems such as biodiversity collapse cannot be predicted in the wake of environmental problems based on measurements made at the level of the individual.

There remain many unknowns and uncertainties in the field. We do not necessarily know what abnormal means in the wider context when looking at individual exposure, for instance. The impact of exposure to high levels of radiation can be obvious, problems arise in our understanding given our limited tools when we need to consider the more subtle effects of low dose exposure, how this affects individuals, across the generations, and across their ecosystems.

The team discusses some promising new ideas, which they suggest may lead to more integrated protection systems involving the ecosystem as a central focus rather than the individual.

Mothersill, C.E. and Seymour, C. (2020) ‘Living in radioactive environments: a non-human perspective‘, Int. J. Low Radiation, Vol. 11, Nos. 3/4, pp.178-185.

New Editor for Journal of Design Research

Prof. Jouke Verlinden from the University of Antwerp in Belgium has been appointed to take over editorship of the Journal of Design Research. The journal's former Editor in Chief, Prof. Renee Wever of Linköping University in Sweden, will remain on the board as Editor.

Research pick: Finding the fakers - "OVM-OSN: an optimal validation model applied to detection of fake accounts on online social networks"

Hundreds of millions of people use some of the countless social networking sites while billions use those and the bigger, more well-known, sites. A research team based in India and Saudi Arabia reports a new approach to detecting fake accounts on social media sites in the International Journal of Internet Technology and Secured Transactions.

Srinivas Rao of the Department of CSE at JNTUK in Kakinada, Gugulothu Narsimha of the Department of CSE, at JNTUH in Hyderabad, India, and Jayadev Gyani of Majmaah University in Saudi Arabia, explain that there are millions of fake accounts on social media sites. Some of them may well be entirely innocuous, while others are run by scammers, spammers, and those intent on spreading disinformation whether medical, scientific, political, or indeed in any other realm of human endeavour.

“Fake accounts are created for profitable malicious activities, such as spamming, click-fraud, malware distribution, and identity fraud,” the team explains. “Some fakes are created to increase the visibility of niche content, forum posts, and fan pages by manipulating votes/view counts. People also create fake profiles for social reasons and it includes the friendly pranks, stalking, cyberbullying, and concealing a real identity to bypass real-life constraints,” they add.

In their new work, the team describes an optimal validation model that uses a multi-swarm fruit fly algorithm to home in on the fake accounts once trained. This fuzzy logic approach can readily differentiate between genuine and fake accounts with a view to improving the overall trustworthiness of online identities. The team has demonstrated in their proof of principle efficacy when faced with fake accounts on the Facebook and Google+ social networks.

Rao, P.S., Gyani, J. and Narsimha, G. (2021) ‘OVM-OSN: an optimal validation model applied to detection of fake accounts on online social networks’, Int. J. Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp.109–130.

Free sample articles newly available from European Journal of Industrial Engineering

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

• Optimising teams and the outcomes of surgery
• Economic order quantity models for the shipment containing defective items with inspection errors and a sub-lot inspection policy
• Performance analysis and optimisation of new strategies for the setup of a multihead weighing process
• QoS of cloud prognostic system: application to aircraft engines fleet
• Establishing call-centre staffing levels using aggregate planning and simulation approach

Special issue published: "Integrating Urban Freight in Urban Transport Planning"

World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research 10(1) 2021

• Where to open maritime containers?: A decision model at the interface of maritime and urban logistics
• Freight villages and urban goods distribution: perspectives of freight transport operators, experts, and policymakers from multi-criteria decision analysis
• E-grocery of tomorrow: home delivery of food between profitability, customer acceptance and ecological footprint
• Combining on-foot porters with vans for last-mile parcel deliveries: results of a study in central London

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Vehicle Information and Communication Systems

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

• Assessing the performance of different TCP congestion mechanisms in underwater wireless sensor networks
• Prediction and avoidance of real-time traffic congestion system for Indian metropolitan cities
• A conceptual framework and architecture for m-governance
• A stable link connectivity-based data communication through neighbour node using traffic-less path in MANET
• DESR: Differential evolutionary secure routing protocol for mobile ad-hoc networks
• Enhanced cluster-based stable path for load balancing and reducing overhead using artificial bee colony in MANETs
• Queue size estimation of nodes in a heterogeneous ocean network with multiple priority traffic
• Reconfigurable hardware architecture of public key crypto processor for VANET and wireless sensor nodes
• QoS-based routing for free space optical mobile ad hoc networks

Research pick: Eating out in India - "The role of sacrifice and service quality in the Indian restaurant industry"

Modern life in India with the emergence of the nuclear family, single-person households, late marriage, busy schedules, and more time spent away from home mean that more and more people eat alone in restaurants than ever before. A new analysis in this social shift is published in the International Journal of Business Excellence and looks at this change from the perspective of sacrifice, service value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions.

Prabhat Kumar Singh Kushwah of the Department of Management at the Prestige Institute of Management in Gwalior and Pankaj Kumar Singh of the ICFAI Business School at IFHE Hyderabad (Deemed to be University), India, suggest that customers are more willing to “sacrifice” in terms of paying a higher price for their food if the service is better than that experienced in a rival establishment. However, in conflict with earlier findings by others sacrifice is not a predictor of service value, they report. This, they suggest, may be down to the fact that in an increasingly customer-led competitive environment, many restaurants are offering a lot of incentives to attract new clientele but are not working sufficiently hard to retain their original customers.

The team suggests that restaurants must innovate in terms of increasing service quality offered and service value perceived by old customers. “The right strategy for restaurants would be to provide loyalty benefits to the current customers to retain them with the restaurants and increase the utility of their services of the restaurants so that what they are receiving for what they are giving can increase in other words they need to focus on increasing service value,” the team writes.

The next step in the work will be to extend the study beyond the original clutch of restaurants examined in Delhi and Bangalore to draw more general conclusions that might apply to other cities across India. Similar work might also next consider business sectors in the service industries other than restaurants using the same tools to examine the collated data.

Kushwah, P.K.S. and Singh, P.K. (2021) ‘The role of sacrifice and service quality in the Indian restaurant industry’, Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp.153–170.

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:

• Ant colony optimisation for solving real-world pickup and delivery problems with hard time windows
• Analysis of the attributes to decision-making process of the urban freight vehicle choice for Brazilian scenario
• Asymmetric causality from commodity prices to shipping markets: an empirical research on ISTFIX region
• The impact of logistics performance on exports, imports and foreign direct investment
• From technology to market: a bibliometric and integrative review on autonomous vehicles

Special issue published: "Sustainable Development: Science, Technology, and Education to Achieve Global Goals"

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 16(4) 2020

• Equal access to quality higher education: consolidation of the sustainable development goals, case of virtual software engineering of the Manuela Beltrán University
• Emerging needs of human talent training in leading information technology companies, a socioformative analysis
• Visual guideline for agile creation of IoT applications for LoRaWAN networks
• Multivariate analysis of volumetric shrinking of industrial cassava varieties
• A critical review of the discrepancy between the spatial planning map and the spatial planning regulation of agricultural lands in Indonesia: Kulon Progo Regency case study

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:

• A streamflow hydrograph analysis and simulation for a study case watershed
• A new algorithm for synthesising locally most consistent priorities in analytic hierarchy process for group decision making
• Investigation and comparative analysis of data mining techniques for the prediction of crop yield
• Very high resolution satellite-based monitoring of crop (olive trees) evapotranspiration in precision agriculture
• Assessment of agricultural sustainability - a study of farmers growing basmati rice under conventional and fair-trade systems in India

Research pick: Identifying crop diseases, there’s an app for that - "An innovative artificial intelligence approach for disease classification in plants"

New research suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) might be able to identify and classify diseases in crop plants allowing more targeted application of treatments for specific fungal infections and other problems. The idea is discussed by a team from India in the International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics.

Nitin Vamsi Dantu and K. Vimalkumar of the Amrita School of Engineering in Coimbatore, and Shriram Vasudevan of the K. Ramakrishnan College of Technology in Trichy, explain that fungal infections in crop plants commonly cause wilting, rusts, blotches, scabs, mouldy coatings, and rotted tissue. Such problems lead to crop failure or inedible produce and massive economic costs to the farmer. An automated way to quickly identify common plant disease and allow targeted treatment to be undertaken could save crops, increase yields, and cut costs.

The team is using deep-learning techniques to develop a system that could be incorporated into a mobile phone app. The app would allow farmers to take a snapshot of a diseased leaf and the app would analyses the image, identify the disease in the crop in the field in real-time. The app can distinguish between healthy potato plant leaves and those afflicted late blight. It can discern strawberry leaf scorch. It can also distinguish between various tomato diseases including bacterial spot, early blight, leaf mold, target spot, mosaic virus, and others.

The tests show the approach to perform better than the state of the art technology, the team says. The system is they say, accurate and functionally very stable.

Such innovations might help save an ailing agricultural industry in certain parts of India as well as reduce the psychological burden on struggling farmers that tragically sees thousands of suicides each year.

Dantu, N.V., Vasudevan, S.K. and Vimalkumar, K. (2021) ‘An innovative artificial intelligence approach for disease classification in plants’, Int. J. Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.1–16.

Special issue published: "Research Challenges and Emerging Technologies in Autonomous Systems"

International Journal of Vehicle Information and Communication Systems 6(1) 2021

• Design and implementation of smart breaker system for electricity board using autonomous systems
• Low-power CMOS circuit design of audio frequency shift keying for emergency alert system
• Secure and location privacy in geographical data with electronic codebook mode-advanced encryption standard
• A fine-tuned feature descriptor for pedestrian action recognition in autonomous vehicles
• A multi-swarm optimisation approach for spam detection in online social networks
• CPAAS: an efficient conditional privacy-preservation anonymous authentication scheme using signcryption in VANET

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:

• Exploring service quality combining Kano model and importance-performance analysis - customer satisfaction of luxury housing service management
• The impact of service quality, self-service technology, and the corporate image on customer satisfaction and customer revisit intention among luxury hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• The forefront of mobile shopping: an emerging economy's perspective
• Use of Taguchi method for optimisation of process parameters of option pricing model

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Global Energy Issues

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

• Energy consumption and sectoral trade in selected West African economies
• Feasibility analysis of renewable energy options for the union territory of Lakshadweep Islands
• Business model analysis for the interaction between smart grid and mobile network operators
• Conditional dependence between oil and exchange rate returns in a developing oil-exporting economy: an investigation with copula-based TGARCH models
• The inventory change surprise's role in energy price behaviour

Inderscience Editor in Chief receives Humboldt Research Award

Inderscience is pleased to announce that Prof. Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology and the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, has won a Humboldt Research Award.

This award is conferred in recognition of the award winner's academic record. Prof. Wickramasinghe will be invited to carry out research projects in collaboration with specialists in Germany.

Inderscience's Editorial Office extends its warmest congratulations to Prof. Wickramasinghe for her achievement, and thanks her for her continuing stellar work on her journals.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Vehicle Performance

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

• Review on automatic transmission control in electric and non-electric automotive powertrain
• Wear experiment of ball joints under multi-axis loads using special developed fixtures
• Whole-body vibration biodynamics - a critical review: II. Biodynamic modelling
• Whole-body vibration biodynamics - a critical review: I. Experimental biodynamics

Special issue published: "Multibody System Algorithms in Vehicle Dynamics and Virtual Prototyping"

International Journal of Vehicle Performance 7(1/2) 2021

• Wheel-rail wear simulation and rail cant optimisation based on railway vehicle dynamics
• Study the dynamic behaviour of seven DOF of full car model with semi-active suspension system
• Research on hierarchical control strategy of electromagnetic active mounting system
• Performance evaluation of different centrifugal pendulum morphologies through multibody dynamics simulation
• Out-of-plane flexible ring tyre model development and validation
• Simulation and experiments on three-wheeled vehicle on different tracks
• A dynamic model of a Cardan joint to evaluate the effect of elasticity and manufacturing errors
• Model-based simulation of dynamic behaviour of electric powertrains and their limitation induced by battery current saturation
• Dynamic behaviour modelling of an internal combustion engine water pump transmission belt drive

Research pick: Autonomous for the people - "Tapping into market opportunities in aging societies – the example of advanced driver assistance systems in the transition to autonomous driving"

A realistic notion of the self-driving car has emerged in recent years and much research is being done to make it a reality. Such vehicles could revolutionize many aspects of life allowing those with limited mobility, sight, or other impediments to driving to be car users nevertheless with all the benefits of independence such vehicles bring to the individual. Additionally, there are those who may never have learned to drive and yet could reap the rewards of car ownership without the complication of understanding steering wheels, brakes, and accelerators.

Writing in the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, a team from Germany discusses the market opportunities associated with an aging society. They focus on the transition from advanced driver assistance systems to the fully autonomous vehicle of the future that would enable personal transport for many more people.

Timo Günthner, Heike Proff, Josip Jovic, and Lukas Zeymer of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Duisburg, Germany, explain how there is stagnation in the marketing of conventional cars. As such, comfort and safety features are being pushed to the fore by innovative manufacturers eyeing the prize of selling to an older, richer market more concerned with such features than youthful exuberance and performance, as it were.

The pensionable “silver market”, as the team refers to it, is growing and increasingly willing to consider assisted driving systems, such as automatic parking and the like. It will be no great leap of the imagination to shift up a gear, figuratively speaking, and increase automated driving protocols to the point where the cars of the future for this niche will be fully autonomous, given appropriate regulatory approval. The team adds that there is not a simple linear relationship between age and willingness to pay and so more research in this area is needed while the technology that will ultimately underpin it matures over the next ten to fifteen years.

Günthner, T., Proff, H., Jovic, J. and Zeymer, L. (2021) ‘Tapping into market opportunities in aging societies – the example of advanced driver assistance systems in the transition to autonomous driving’, Int. J. Automotive Technology and Management, Vol. 21, Nos. 1/2, pp.75–98.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Applied Management Science

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

• Antecedents of online purchase intention in the context of social commerce
• Tabu search and constraint programming-based approach for a real scheduling and routing problem
• Establishing and comparing electrical energy consumption of sawmills
• The evaluation of renewable energy predictive modelling in energy dependency reduction: a system dynamics approach

Research pick: eSpectator sports - "eSports: a new era of spectator games from a consumer’s viewpoint"

Video games can be spectator sports in just the same as traditional sports, such as football, ice hockey, tennis, athletics etc. The majority of sports spectators view traditional sports remotely, commonly via a television with only relatively limited numbers of people able to attend a sports event. This was always the way, but the current Covid pandemic has precluded attendance at live sports events for and pushed spectating further online. Gaming has only ever had a limited number of live spectators and so the positioning of eSports as online sporting events had a head start.

New research published in the International Journal of Business Information Systems, looks at eSports from the perspective of a new era in spectator games from the perspective of the consumer rather than the gamer. Alan Smith of the Department of Marketing at Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania and Amber Smith-Ditizio of the Department of Kinesiology at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, USA, discuss accessibility, competitiveness, and socialisation in eSports.

Specifically, the team focuses on accessibility, which includes pricing models and media in which players can spectate and participate. Competitiveness encompasses how players improve their skills, take part in tournaments, and the notion of equality. The socialisation aspect of the research looks at the sense of community that emerges, how gamers can play with friends, and content generated by that community. Most viewers report that they use the internet to spectate on eSports.

The team points out that in order to understand this emerging industry more completely it is necessary to if not discard then untether the research from studies of conventional sports. There is much to learn about how consumers of eSports, who are commonly participants in those activities themselves, sit within this burgeoning realm. Clearer understanding will hopefully lead to progress and improve the way in which future videogames are developed, how professional teams might become better organised as well as pointing to how corporate sponsorship might evolve.

Smith, A.D. and Smith-Ditizio, A.A. (2021) ‘eSports: a new era of spectator games from a consumer’s viewpoint’, Int. J. Business Information Systems, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp.406–431.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Trade and Global Markets

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

• Strategic management in a public hospital by balanced scorecard and economics analysis
• Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in Thailand after the 1997 Asian financial crisis
• Board characteristics and environmental performance in Indonesian family business
• Determinants of e-money adoption: an empirical study
• The key metrics of traditional market revitalisation from tenant's perspective
• Fiscal decentralisation and capital expenditure composition of regional government in Indonesia
• Investigating the perception of the elderly on the future of labour market
• Are emotions exacerbating the recency bias?: An experimental study
• Examining trading strategies using trend following indicators for Indonesian stock market
• Validating the adaptive market hypothesis in the Tunisian stock market
• Business model and business model innovation: scholarly incongruence and implications to entrepreneurial firms
• Impact of electronic word-of-mouth on brand awareness in the video game sector: a study on Digital Happiness
• Network-based dynamic capabilities in internationalisation of SMEs: case studies in emerging economy
• Measuring trade specialisation of Slovakia on extra EU market

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Intellectual Property Management

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

• Comparing the legal treatment of employee-created intellectual and industrial property from a labour law perspective
• Impact of financial market efficiency on intellectual property protection
• Measuring research efficiency of higher academic technical institutions of India: a Malmquist productivity index approach
• Intellectual property: country-wise trends of contributors and indicators in the knowledge economy
• Political entrepreneurship and leadership succession
• Impact assessment after the first year of the new Spanish Patent Law

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation

The following sample articles from the International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation are now available here for free:

• Dynamic economic emission dispatch problem with renewable integration focusing on deficit scenario in India
• Performance-aware deployment of streaming applications in distributed stream computing systems
• Performance analysis of intrinsic embedded evolvable hardware using memetic and genetic algorithms
• Improved density peaks clustering based on firefly algorithm
• NSGA-III algorithm with maximum ranking strategy for many-objective optimisation
• A modified bat algorithm with torus walk for solving global optimisation problems

Research pick: Social shopping - "Shopping on social networks: is this the storefront of the future?"

Online shopping has been with us for many years. The World Wide Web opened up to the commercial world back in the mid-1990s. However, the web itself has been displaced to a large degree by social networking and online life for many exists almost exclusively on these apps and sites rather than the broader internet. As such, commercial concerns hoping to keep pace with constant change must adapt to take advantage of social networking in the same way that bricks-and-mortar shops had to adapt to the emergence of web rivals. Could the social network be the new shopping mall?

Melanie Wiese of the Department of Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, discusses the prospects in the International Journal of Business Information Systems. She has investigated how quickly users are taking to the online marketplace of the biggest international social networking system, Facebook and considering the moderating role of trust in this environment. Completed surveys from almost 400 uses in South Africa provide the raw data for her analysis.

Fundamentally, Wiese’s results show that it is perceived enjoyment and usefulness that are the most important factors determining whether or not a Facebook user will make a purchase through this system. She found that while privacy risk and social norms were not significant influences. Indeed, among the Facebook users surveyed, the majority were more trusting of shopping through Facebook than more conventional online shopping. Her findings could guide those hoping to sell their wares on Facebook helping them to improve their marketing strategies.

The alignment of social networking and shopping has been a possibility for many years, perhaps first mentioned in the research literature in 2010, but hinted at long before that.

“Shopping on social networks presents an opportunity for users to complete transactions within the social network’s environment, while it provides brands the opportunity to meet consumers in their space,” says Wiese. She adds that researchers and marketers alike need to quick to respond to changes in this fast-moving online environment if they are to make credible and timely predictions. There needs to be a sense of urgency, she suggests, as otherwise cutting edge research quickly becomes out-dated historical artifact rather than forward looking.

Wiese, M. (2021) ‘Shopping on social networks: is this the storefront of the future?‘, Int. J. Business Information Systems, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp.303-326.

Special issue published: "Modelling and Applications Of Nonlinear Control Systems"

International Journal of Automation and Control 15(2) 2021

• A new conservative chaotic dynamical system with lemniscate equilibrium, its circuit model and FPGA implementation
• Three-level (NPC) shunt active power filter based on fuzzy logic and fractional-order PI controller
• H∞ performance analysis and switching control design for uncertain discrete switched time-delay systems
• Occasional stabilisation of limit cycle walking and control of chaos in the passive dynamics of the compass-gait biped model
• Machine learning-based novel DSP controller for PV systems
• Optimal control based on multiple models approach of chaotic switched systems, application to a stepper motor
• Low power pulsed flip-flop with clock gating and conditional pulse enhancement

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management

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

• Customer perceptions of shared autonomous vehicle usage: an empirical study
• The diversity of agents and patent thicket evolution in electric vehicles
• Shifting patterns in the application of industrial policy
• Pie sharing and pie expansion in buyer-supplier new product development partnerships
• Is more automation always better? An empirical study of customers' willingness to use autonomous vehicle functions

Special issue published: "Promises, Pitfalls and Social Needs of the Autonomous Vehicle Technology"

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 21(1/2) 2021

• Autonomous shuttles for collective transport: a worldwide benchmark
• Factors of diffusion of innovations: analysis of the literature of autonomous vehicles
• Innovation radar for disruptive technology insertion: the case of autonomous vehicles in Brazil and France
• Tapping into market opportunities in aging societies - the example of advanced driver assistance systems in the transition to autonomous driving
• Robomobility for collective transport: a prospective user centric view
• Going digital, going green: changing production networks in the automotive industry in China
• Estimating the welfare loss due to vehicle tariffs in Malaysia

Research pick: The bank of the living dead - "Does lowering entry cost counter the persistence of zombie firms?"

The term “zombie firm” was coined in the late 1980s in the context of “zombie banks”. In fiction, the word zombie itself usually refers to a monstrous creature that is animated and yet dead. In the context of finance, however, we might think of a zombie as a commercial organization that remains active and yet is unable to pay its debts nor generate a profit. Moreover, the life of a zombie firm is often prolonged artificially by subsidies from third parties such as governments and foreign investors.

Nguyen Thi Tuong Anh, Doan Quang Hung, Nam Hoang Vu, and Bui Anh Tuan of the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam, suggesting that addressing the problem of zombie firms is an important issue at the international level. They point out that many zombie firms are state-owned and invested in foreign transition economies. Writing in the International Journal of Business and Globalisation, the team explains how they have used longitudinal data concerning enterprises and the local business environment in a transition economy to devise a solution to the problem.

They demonstrate that driving out persistent zombie firms in manufacturing industries might be possible by reducing entry costs to a market to facilitate greater competition. The approach, they suggest, may not be effective in non-manufacturing industries.

The team concludes, based on their study of zombie firms in Vietnam, that rather than offering subsidized bailouts to such firms, governments should use market-based instruments to eradicate the zombies and stronger firms to emerge better adapted to the market.

Anh, N.T.T., Hung, D.Q., Vu, N.H. and Tuan, B.A. (2021) ‘Does lowering entry cost counter the persistence of zombie firms?’, Int. J. Business and Globalisation, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp.333–354.

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Sustainable Economy

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

• The impact of sovereign credit rating changes on government bond yields in South Africa
• The role of carbon footprint indicator for sustainable implications in tourism industry - case study of Bulgaria
• Optimal tax rates in South Africa: new empirical insights to the existing debate
• The impact of government expenditure on GDP in the State of Qatar: a nonlinear ARDL approach
• Dynamics of natural capital in neoclassical growth model

Special issue published: "Recent Developments in European Finance and Banking"

International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance 14(1) 2021

• Revenue efficiency: a distributional analysis in the European banking
• Assessment of selected aspects of financial stability of the Czech banks
• The impacts of monetary policy of the Czech National Bank on selected economic indicators
• BVAR models in short-term prediction of modern central banks: empirical evidence of the euro area
• The relationship of liquid money and selected price indices in the USA
• Role of deposit insurance schemes on financial markets

Free sample articles newly available from International Journal of Nanomanufacturing

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

• Study on point target tracking technology based on neural network
• One step synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles with zinc acetate dehydrates and potassium
• The behaviour of nanofluids flooded in printed mini channels when excited by a small electrical potential
• Influence of boron nitride nano additives in cutting fluid for improving surface roughness with MRR
• Study on engineering module design for liquid macromolecular ingredient content detection
• Precision of prestressed ball screw thermal behaviour in machine tool operating conditions
• Fractal description and adsorption-desorption behaviour of coke treated by benzene pyrolysis carbons
• Carbon nanotubes synthesis using Fe-Co-Mo/MgO tri-metallic catalyst: study the effect of reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst weight

Special issue published: "Research on Business and Globalisation in Vietnam: An Interdisciplinary Issue"

International Journal of Business and Globalisation 27(3) 2021

• The impacts of money policy on growth and inflation in Vietnam: results from the VAR model
• Impact of foreign direct investment and urbanisation on CO2 emissions in Vietnam
• Does lowering entry cost counter the persistence of zombie firms?
• Entrepreneurial attitude orientations and entrepreneurial intention of Vietnamese adults: the moderating role of sources of capital
• Corporate governance and financial misstatement: evidence from Vietnam
• SEM approach to understanding m-commerce use in a developing country
• Optimised business model for effective charging of batteries in electric vehicles
• Gender and paternalistic leadership in a Chinese cultural context, a critical review, and future research trajectories

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

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

• Interpreting survey-based federal funds rate forecasts: how accurate are they in reflecting market expectations?
• Internal and external determinants of listed commercial banks' profitability in India: dynamic GMM approach
• The aftermaths of acquisition in Indonesia
• Stock returns indicator: case of Tadawul