Special issue: Policy and economic issues of electrical power and energy systems

International Journal of Global Energy Issues 27(3) 2007 is a special issue: Policy and economic issues of electrical power and energy systems.

Article titles:
* Policy and economic issues of electrical power and energy systems
* Energy demand simulation for East European countries
* Forecasting of commercial energy consumption in India using Artificial Neural Network
* Energy scenarios: a review of methods, uses and suggestions for improvement
* Decentralised and centralised energy: a property rights analysis
* The need for financial innovation in electricity supply. Leading issues for sustainability of electrification in developing areas
* Integrated framework for energy loss allocation in electric distribution systems under liberalised energy markets

First issue: International Journal of Electronic Governance

The first issue of International Journal of Electronic Governance has just been published.

The journal focuses on the use of electronic and information technologies in deliberation over democratic policy and decision making processes, community governance as well as governance in non-political domains such as corporate, open project, online community and social network contexts. It also explores the relations between electronic governance, digital communication and digital inclusion, novel technologies for electronic governance such as governance games and simulations, and the political, organisational, social, psychological and cognitive aspects of electronic governance.

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

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Metaheuristics

International Journal of Metaheuristics - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish state-of-the-art international research in the theory and practice of metaheuristic and hybrid techniques, such as

• Simulated annealing
• Tabu search
• Scatter search
• Path relinking
• Evolutionary algorithms
• Particle swarms
• Ant systems

Special issue: Knowledge and innovation in the globalising world wine industry

International Journal of Technology and Globalisation 3(2/30 2007 is a special issue: Knowledge and innovation in the globalising world wine industry.

Article titles:
* Technological and economic dynamics of the world wine industry: an introduction
* The wine industry: persistence of tacit knowledge or increased codification? Some implications for catching-up countries
* The role of research in wine: the emergence of a regional research area in an Italian wine * The awakening of the sleeping giant: export growth and technological catch-up of the Argentine wine industry
* Catching up in the global wine industry: innovation systems, cluster knowledge networks and firm-level capabilities in Italy and Chile
* Wine and economic development: technological and corporate change in the Australian wine industry
* Innovation and inertia: the emerging dislocation of imperatives within the Australian wine industry
* Knowledge-based industry after market liberalisation: the case of the local pharmaceutical industry in Central and Eastern Europe
* New face of globalisation, Foreign Direct Investment and technology capacity building in China
* Technology prospecting: lessons from the early history of the Chile Foundation
* Triggers of the technological capability accumulation in MNCs' subsidiaries: the maquilas in Mexico

Special issue: Materials science and technology

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 2(2) 2007 is a special issue: Material science and technology, with papers from 11th International Scientific Conference on Contemporary Achievements in Mechanics, Manufacturing and Materials Science – CAM3S ‘2005, Gliwice – Zakopane, Poland, 6–9 December 2005.

Article titles:
* Heat treatment of TRIP-aided bainitic steel
* Structure investigations of the ground FeAl(Cr)-Cr3C2-Cr7C3-TiC composite powder prepared through the SHS process
* Permanent magnets Nd-Fe-B
* Properties and corrosion resistance of PM composite materials based on EN AW-Al Cu4Mg1(A) aluminium alloy reinforced with Ti(C,N) particles
* Effect of residual stress on stress intensity factors of fretting fatigue cracks
* High-speed twin-roll casting of Al-Mg-Si alloys
* Corrosion resistance of Cr-Ni-Mo steel intended for urological stents
* Mechanical alloying of Fe-C alloys
* Study on deformation conditions of epoxy compounds for semiconductor integrated circuits
* Deformation behaviour and microstructure development of a high-carbon steel during its hot and cold processing
* Properties of Ti64 alloy made by non-conventional casting method

Special issue: Signals, systems and devices

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 2(1) 2007 is a special issue: Signals, systems and devices, comprising extended versions of papers given at the International Conference on Signal Systems and Devices (SSD’2005), Sousse, Tunisia, 21–24 March2005.

Article titles:
* Strong stabilisation: an LMI approach
* Non-linear systems control via fuzzy models: a multicontroller approach
* Generalised observers for a class of non-linear systems
* Non-linear observers for state and unknown inputs estimation
* On the dynamic properties and control of underactuated surface vessels
* A robust adaptive control using neural network
* On the PID control of systems with large delays

Special issue: Nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness: the role of monitoring and modelling in an emergency situation

International Journal of Emergency Management 4(3) 2007 is a special issue: Nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness: the role of monitoring and modelling in an emergency situation.

Article titles:
* Monitoring radioactivity in nuclear and radiological emergency in a European perspective: aims and means
* Nuclear/radiological emergency response in the USA
* Aerial radiological systems, measurements and analysis
* Monitoring in case of emergency situations related to orphaned sources
* Instrument selection and use for measurements in a radiological emergency
* Prospective use of individual emergency monitoring of the public – lessons from Chernobyl
* Decision support in nuclear and radiological emergency situations: Are we too focused on models and technology?
* European Commission international data and information exchange systems to assist EU Member States in case of radiological and nuclear emergencies
* Automatic mapping in emergency: a geostatistical perspective
* Effective use of radiation monitoring data and dispersion calculations in an emergency
* Validation of the concept of default operational intervention levels in nuclear reactor accidents by Monte Carlo calculations
* Decision support system for risk-based land management and rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories: PRANA approach
* The National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center modelling and decision-support system for radiological and nuclear emergency preparedness and response
* Data assimilation, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses in the Dutch nuclear emergency management system: a pilot study
* The interaction between off-site decision making, decision support systems, modelling and monitoring in a nuclear emergency situation

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Precision Technology

International Journal of Precision Technology - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish papers that deal with what Taniguchi calls normal, precision, high precision, and ultra-precision machining processes, and the machine tools, cutting tools and measurement systems involved in these processes. Precision is defined as something which is repetitive but not necessarily accurate. The ideal product, process, or system is that which is precise and accurate as well. The journal caters for such papers that may be technological and not backed by advanced science and mathematics but also welcomes papers of an engineering, scientific, and mathematical nature.

Special issue: Challenging interoperability for PLM

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management 2(2) 2007 is a special issue: Challenging interoperability for PLM

Article titles:
* Improving brokering adaptation in dynamic heterogeneous environments
* Multi-agent based internet search
* OMG CAD Services V1.0 standard: an approach to CAD–CAx integration
* Application of Data Mining and Intelligent Agent Technologies to Concurrent Engineering
* Harmonising technologies in conceptual models representation

Special issue: Biotechnology in forestry

International Journal of Biotechnology 9(5) 2007 is a special issue: Biotechnology in forestry.

Article titles:
* The value of forest biotechnology: a cost modelling study with loblolly pine and kraft linerboard in the southeastern USA
* GM technology in forestry: lessons from the GM food 'debate'
* Forest biotechnology: an extension of tree improvement
* Forest biotechnology: trees of our future
* Public perceptions of hybrid poplar plantations: trees as an alternative crop
* Forest management and biotechnology: the case of a selective-logging regime

Special issue: Large-scale pattern recognition and distributed intelligent systems

International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications 3(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Large-scale pattern recognition and distributed intelligent systems.

Article titles:
* Decision trees for filtering large databases of graphs
* On graph modelling, node ranking and visualisation
* An integrated approach to the segmentation and recognition of objects using level set and thin plate spline method
* Face recognition based on ordinal correlation
* An improved Naive Bayesian classifier with advanced discretisation method
* Adaptive peer-to-peer streaming over hybrid wireless networks
* Optimal mobile sensor motion planning under non-holonomic constraints for parameter estimation of distributed systems
* Film audio pace
* Intelligent computing for real-time solution of time-varying linear equations
* Optimisation-on-a-manifold for global registration of multiple 3D point sets
* The structures of EI algebras generated by information attributes

Special issue: Vaccines: all things considered

International Journal of Biotechnology 9(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Vaccines: all things considered.

Article titles:
* Preliminary evidence of efficacy from an open label trial of a therapeutic AIDS vaccine derived from the blood of HIV-positive donors
* Immunostimulants in the prevention of respiratory infections
* Safety and immunogenicity of bivalent inactivated vaccine against haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in a phase II trial on healthy Chinese volunteers
* Comparative effect of an immunomodulator Immunoxel (DzhereloT™) when used alone or in combination with antiretroviral therapy in drug-naive HIV-infected individuals
* Envelope-based HIV vaccine peptides as antigens in HIV-1 immunodiagnostics
* Developing Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccines for populations living in areas with stable parasite transmission
* Anti-HIV and anti-inflammatory action of iodine-lithium-α-dextrin is accompanied by the improved quality of life in AIDS patients
* Preclinical and safety studies of V-1 Immunitor
* Possible role of molecular mimicry in pathogenesis of Ebola virus: implications for a rational vaccine design
* Mechanism of action and therapeutic efficacy of the biotechnology-derived immunostimulating extract OM-85 in respiratory tract infections
* HIV-1 subtype C vaccine: waiting in wings for the human trials
* Immunity development following oral vaccination against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in a mouse model
* Regulation of cancer by therapeutic vaccination and dietary bio-modulation involving organ-specific mitochondria

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems

International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems - to begin publication in 2008 - will deal with the development of novel computational intelligence techniques and their application to support systems used by defence personnel. The scope of application covers strategic, tactical and operational decision making across the entire defence sector, covering areas such as intelligence gathering and analysis, capability assessment, tactics modelling and evaluation and logistics management as well as military systems integration and both semi-autonomous and autonomous systems.

Special issue: Environmental remediation and development

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 29(4) 2007 is a special issue: Environmental remediation and development.

Article titles:
* Estimating contaminant-flushing rates for heterogeneous aquifers
* Use of geostatistics to evaluate the monitoring well network of a TCE plume
* Water cleaning and wetland construction
* Measurement of atmospheric fluxes of radionuclides at a UK site using both direct (rain) and indirect (soils) methods
* Fabricated soils for landscape restoration: an example for scientific contribution by a public-private partnership effort
* Study of bacterial activity in fabricated soils
* Fungi in fabricated soils
* Distribution of peroxidase activity and polyamine pattern of Heliotropium europeum in potassium deficiency conditions
* Advantages of auxin analogues as plant growth and productivity regulators
* Exploratory study of some potential environmental impacts of CO2 sequestration in unmineable coal seams
* Recovering coal bed methane from deep unmineable coal seams and carbon sequestration
* The study of the recovery of highly purified terephthalic acid from alkali weight-reduction wastewater
* Computational modelling of NOx removal by selective non-catalytic reduction
* Monitoring of phytoplankton biomass and nutrients in a polluted stream

Call for papers: Advanced Techniques Applied to Power System Protection

Call for papers: Advanced Techniques Applied to Power System Protection

A special issue of International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy

Protection systems play a fundamental role in guaranteeing the integrity and safe operation of any electrical energy system. The first protection systems were developed based on electromechanical devices employing movable parts. In a later period of development, solid-state based devices with discrete electronic components were also introduced. Although both types of devices are still widely utilised in on-operation protection systems, they are currently being replaced by microprocessor-based relays, known generically as digital or numerical relays.

The usage of digital relays has permitted that many new techniques be developed and implemented. As a consequence, protection systems are facing a very dynamic period. Modern protection systems, indeed, are truely integrated systems, consisting of communication, numerical processing, measurement and logical systems. Moreover, intelligent techniques such as evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy systems and neural networks have been widely employed for protection schemes in single equipment and power system areas. Such a scenario, which joins digital hardware with communication technologies and intelligent techniques, creates a challenging environment where protection specialists can use these elements to develop novel protection philosophies and techniques, aiming at a fast, reliable and economic protection system.

The objective of this special issue is to provide a means for the publication and interchange of information, on an international basis, on advanced techniques applied to electric power protection system.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Intelligent techniques (e.g. neural networks, genetic algorithms, etc) applied to protection systems
• Adaptive relaying
• Communication systems dedicated to protection systems
• Advanced signal processing techniques applied to protection systems
• Multi-agent based protection systems
• Wide-area protection systems based on broadband communications and time synchronous systems
• Application of phasor measurement units (PMU) to protection systems
• Development of unified protocols dedicated to protection systems
• Fault location techniques

Important Dates
Full paper and proposal submission: 30 October 2007
Notification of acceptance: 30 December 2007
Revised manuscript submission: 15 February 2008
Notification of acceptance: 15 March 2008
Final paper: 15 April 2008

First issue: International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies - a special issue on information systems

The first issue of International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies has just been published.

The journal aims at becoming an authoritative source in teaching and learning within management, computing and information technology in a broad sense, which is of interest to educators, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners alike. The unique view is the linkage of computing and information technology to management and business and the journal will deliver excellent articles on new methods, models and practices of teaching in the era of knowledge society, as well as (teaching) cases aimed at supporting learning in academia and business settings.

This first double issue - with a free download of the papers - is a special issue: Information systems: the new research agenda, the emerging curriculum and the new teaching paradigm.

Article titles:
* Teaching in the knowledge society: an art of passion
* An interview with Michael D. Myers, President, Association for Information Systems: ''the field of IS has always been about RELATIONSHIPS, not things in themselves''
* Thoughts on the future of education in information technology
* Articulating case-based learning outcomes and assessment
* A shift in content of the IS fundamentals course
* Educating future IS professionals through real-world integration
* Business informatics as a research discipline
* Electronic case studies: a problem-based learning approach to management development
* Use of conversation theory to underpin blended learning
* The impact of social technologies on student performance in a collaborative learning environment
* Teaching appropriate ethnographic methodologies for pervasive computing
* Towards active case based learning in IS
* PASER: a curricula synthesis system based on automated problem solving

Special issue: Innovation in healthcare operations

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management 8(6) 2007 is a special issue: Innovation in healthcare operations, with 4 articles based on papers from the fourth
International Conference on the Management of Healthcare & Medical Technology, Aalborg, Denmark, 25–26 August 2005, organised jointly by the Association for Healthcare Technology and Management (HCTM) and the Center for Industrial Production (CIP) at Aalborg University.

Article titles:
* Managing variation through system redesign
* Balancing the surgical capacity in a hospital
* Implementation and use of an electronic health record: measuring relevance and participation in four hospitals
* Using the benefits of picture archiving and communicating systems – constraints in stakeholder governance
* The dengue fever outbreak in Hawaii: a bioterrorism model for vector-borne illnesses
* Renewing regulatory practices: the case of stem cells

Featured article: Securing e-voting as a legitimate option for e-governance

Securing e-voting as a legitimate option for e-governance
Alan D. Smith, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, USA
Electronic Government, an International Journal 4(3) 2007, 269 - 289
The constant change of technology has put increased pressure on e-governance initiatives to modernise its election process to keep pace with e-commerce activities. After several national elections, many citizens have noticed first hand the numerous voter irregularities that included long lines, hanging chads, and other polling problems as many countries rush to update their aging and out-dated voter machines and traditional forms of capturing and identifying voters' information. Although e-voting could gradually lead to a smoother, electoral process, citizens and politicians must not assume electronic machines are cure-alls to the traditional ballot crisis. Since e-voting entails plugging votes across a network into a central IT-infrastructure, security and privacy concerns become increasingly imminent. This paper focuses on such e-governance initiatives and what steps election officials could take to ensure its elections via e-voting are secure through a cost/benefit analysis.

Call for papers: Global Entrepreneurship through Innovation

Call for papers: Global Entrepreneurship through Innovation

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

Entrepreneurship is a key facilitator of new business creation, market competitiveness and sustainability. Innovation in the global economy is a major driver of organisation leaderships, business dynamism and business value chain. Entrepreneurship and innovation are integral players in global business ecology.

However, how to foster global entrepreneurs through innovation has rarely been explored. To achieve this urgent and timely topic, global businesses need more sustainable profitability, better business models, stronger leaderships in order to launch innovative high-value business ventures.

This special issue’s main objective is to establish an outlet for scholars and practitioners interested in a variety of topics in entrepreneurship and innovation management in global business perspectives. Thus, papers submitted for the special issue should address the global implications of entrepreneurship through innovation.

Examples of topics appropriate to the theme of global entrepreneurship through innovation include:

• Case studies of global entrepreneurs
• Global leadership with innovation
• New business creation within a global perspective
• Pedagogy to foster global entrepreneurial and innovative mindsets
• Process accessing to global business resources such as finance, human resources, marketing, and operations
• Role of government in business creation and growth
• Successes and failures in global small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
• Other related topics

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 31 July 2008

First issue: International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology

The first issue of International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology has just been published.

The journal aims to advance cutting edge research in the multi-disciplinary subject of biomedical engineering and technology. This area provides a synthesis of physical, chemical, mathematical, and computational sciences combined with engineering principles to enhance research and developments in biology, medicine, behaviour, and health. It advances fundamental concepts; creates knowledge from the molecular to the organ systems level; and develops innovative biologics, materials, processes, implants, devices and informatics approaches for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, for patient rehabilitation, and providing an overall enhancement of healthcare.

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