Newly announced journal: International Journal of Sustainable Society

The impacts of society touch everyone's life. These impacts may be considerable, even critical. Societal problems, especially those which remain unchecked and unmanaged, can weaken, threaten, or even eventually destroy, our society. Production produces pollution; medication generates side-effects; pesticide causes poisoning; innovation can lead to unemployment…
International Journal of Sustainable Society - to begin publication in 2008 - deals not only with the question of whether modern society should be sustainable, but also the ways in which this could and should come about. It bases its vision on eight "balances" between:

• economic development and environmental protection
• real aggregate demand and aggregate supply
• human beings and nature
• consumption and preservation
• material and spiritual pleasures
• civil liberty and self-restraint
• hedonism and practicality (or frugality)
• science and society

The journal aims to provide a professional forum for formulating, discussing and disseminating these solutions, which relate to the design, development, deployment, management, measurement, and adjustment of these social networks. They should form a common ground on which a sustainable society can be built, shared and supported by professionals from different disciplines. The universal goal of achieving peace, prosperity, and harmony in our society should go beyond disciplines, and ultimately be coordinated across different nationalities, cultures, races, and religions, and be sustainable.

Call for papers: Management and Delivery of Acrylic and Ceramic-based Materials for Use in Hard Tissue Replacement

Call for papers: Management and Delivery of Acrylic and Ceramic-based Materials for Use in Hard Tissue Replacement

A special issue of International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials

There is considerable interest in the use of nanotechnology to improve the application of acrylic and ceramic-based systems for hard tissue replacement. Prosthetic replacement of lost hard tissue must be able to withstand significant mechanical loads, bacterial biofilm formation, whilst remaining biocompatible and non-toxic.

In order to meet these demands, there is an urgent requirement to be able to control and maximise the different properties of acrylic and ceramics biomaterials for hard tissue replacement, with specific emphasis on the nanoscale properties that can be exploited to induce targeted physical, mechanical and biological responses, thereby offering significant improvements in the related clinical outcomes.

This special issue of IJNBM is dedicated to the publication of papers that reflect the current state-of-the-art of acrylic and ceramic-based systems for hard tissue replacement. As such, it provides an important opportunity for promoting the development of next generation of materials, surgical approaches, medical devices and implants

The subject coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to, topics that address:

• Fundamental research in nanotechnology applied to acrylic and ceramic based materials
• Papers on appropriate nanomaterials synthesis
• Applied research and developments for the provision of relevant surgical approaches and techniques
• Papers on applications of fundamental and applied research in appropriate industrial applications
• Papers on the emerging technologies or innovations in appropriate materials nanomanufacturing and nanofabrication
• Nanotechnologies for orthopaedic and hard tissue replacement surgical procedures

Interdisciplinary research that spans several fields is particularly welcome.

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 April 2008
Communication of peer reviews to authors: 31 July 2008
Deadline for revised manuscripts: 31 August 2008

Call for papers: eParticipation Challenges and Opportunities

Call for papers: eParticipation Challenges and Opportunities

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Business

Governments seek to encourage participation in order to improve the efficiency, acceptance, and legitimacy of political processes. Citizens, non-governmental organisations, businesses, lobbyists, and pressure groups demand participation in order to further their own interests, either within the established political system or outside it through activism and civil disobedience. Participation contributes to deliberation, opinion forming, agenda setting, political decision making, and feedback mechanisms (where these can be thought of as stages of a policy-making cycle). Participation is therefore an important component of all democratic systems, and in some democratic forms (such as direct democracy) it is the central component. Governments and the public sector are making increasing use of information and communication technologies, to foment participatory activities.

eParticipation, therefore, involves the extension and transformation of participation in societal democratic and consultative processes that are mediated by information and communication technologies. It synergistically enhances democratic and the formal political processes through the use of new digital technologies by facilitating, changing, and improving patterns of democratic deliberation and decision-making. This special issue is devoted to further our understanding of the emerging research area of eParticipation.

Papers that address theory and practice of all aspects of eParticipation are invited. Case studies and empirical research are welcome. Contributions will be evaluated on their originality, clarity and relevance. Submissions from all interdisciplinary areas and from people with practical experience in industry or government are encouraged.

The topics include but are not limited to eParticipation research challenges in the following and related areas:

Theoretical accounts of the relationship between technology and participation
- Effect(s) of virtual communities or virtual cities on participation
- Evaluating the effect of ICTs on political participation
- Technologically mediated development of democracy forms
- The role of political parties in online participation and campaigning
- Grassroots campaigning and activism

Governmental and societal challenges
- Prioritizing eParticipation over managerial eGovernment projects
- Extending participation in non-democratic or lesser developed countries
- The extent of citizen involvement in voting and other participatory activities
- The digital divide (improving access and avoiding elite control and inequality)

Socio-technical design of technologies and the participation and governance structures they are embedded in.
- Technology design (e.g. discussion systems)
- Design and management of eParticipation activities (e.g. online debating, eVoting)
- The design of on-line governance, participation in rule-making, transparency
- Computer visualization techniques that facilitate consultation and decision making
- Achieving security and trust (especially in eVoting)

Evaluating eParticipation genres
- Evaluating eParticipation: technologies and activities

Important Dates
Full Paper Submission: 15 February, 2008
Authors Informed of Review Results: 15 May, 2008
Final Paper Submission: 15 June, 2008

Call for papers: International Intellectual Property Law and the Creative Industries

Call for papers: International Intellectual Property Law and the Creative Industries

A special issue of International Journal of Intellectual Property Management

This special issue will address topics related to the complex and contentious interface between the international intellectual property law and creative industries and aims at broadening the debate on the global dimensions and challenges of the privatisation of public goods, incentives to innovation in industry, and access to knowledge and commons. A primary desirable approach is centered in the critical review of current IP policies and economics relating to creative industries from the perspective of the traditional pillars of the international intellectual property regime shaped by the Berne and Paris Conventions, as well as the enforcement of developmental-related WTO/TRIPS provisions and current trends on the "regionalisation" and "nationalisation" of intellectual property rights protection.

Several factors may be identified in the context of intellectual property and creative industries, varying in approach and magnitude. The emergence of new technologies and advent of internet had substantially changed the ways ‘creative products and services’ are distributed in global markets. Many developing countries are still struggling with WTO/TRIPS standards of intellectual property protection in order to change their domestic practices and institutions and explore all the flexibilities provided by the Agreement. In all those aspects, the exhaustion and consequent obsolescence of certain proprietary models lead to a debate concerning the urgent adjustment of international norms. This seems to point out some specificities of creative industries’ management, since this area has become undisputedly a growing part of the global economy.

One of the main objectives of this special issue is to provide a forum for discussion and presentation of overall issues on intellectual property and creative industries, revisiting traditional institutions and recommending some policy guidelines for helping to resolve some of the contentious issues.

For the successful completion of this issue, we seek critical and policy-oriented contributions from legal, economic and societal perspectives, which address the interface between the international intellectual property legal regime and creative industries’ development. Related issues, such as innovation law, privatisation of common goods and access to knowledge, may also be taken into consideration. Papers may adopt distinct methodologies (e.g. survey of cases, theoretical/doctrinal, empirical or descriptive) and they will be subject to a peer review.

Suggested topics covered by this special issue include, but not limited to, the following:

• Conceptual delimitation of creative industries, interface with intellectual property; international IP sources; comparative legal analysis
• Creativity standards and IP protection - access requirements for protection and creative industries
• Economics of creative industries and intellectual property law
• Creative potential of developing countries, economic aspects of creative activities, trends on the access to 'creative goods'; benefit sharing in creative industries
• Transnational code of principles of technology sharing, open source and interface with creative industries (legal or entrepreneurial aspects)
• Expansion of public domain; competition standards alternatives in the field of creative industries Cross-subsidies and R&D in creative industries; business models and new technologies
• Relation between media and creative industries; effects of copyright protection and expanded protection through bilateral and free trade agreements
• Differences between cultural industries and creative industries - their contours and common fields, such as dissemination of arts (museums and libraries), cultural tourism and heritage, sports and outdoor activities; societal dimensions of cultural industries and non-appropriation of cultural goods by creative industries;
• Survey issues and evidence of the relation between IP protection, incentives or non-incentives and creative industries
• New media and the creative industries; effects of IP protection and competition law
• Key questions related to the balance of interests of rights holders and the public; limitation of time and scope of protection of IP rights and incentives to the dissemination of knowledge and creativity
• Costs of expanding IP protection in developing countries in those cases related to creative industries (e.g. music and arts industries as platforms of diversification of domestic markets, access to global markets, flow of 'creative goods' in international trade, strengthening of cultural solidarity etc)
• Effectiveness of intellectual property protection in indigenous creativity in developing countries (survey issues; appropriation of cultural goods and traditional knowledge within creative industries)

In all those topics, authors should have in mind the several dimensions and approaches related to IP policies and practices at domestic and international level. How are intellectual property rights changing the notions of time and space in cultural diversity and multiculturalism? How are they appropriating cultural goods and insulating them in fields of exclusivity in the so called ‘creative industries’? How are pros and cons of intellectual property protection in the field of creative industries, particularly in respect of copyright and new media?

Important Date
Deadline for submission of first draft of the paper: 28 February, 2008

Call for papers: The Methodologies and Applications of Modelling, Identification, and Computing in Medical Imaging

Call for papers: The Methodologies and Applications of Modelling, Identification, and Computing in Medical Imaging

A special issue of International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

Modern medical imaging relies on extensive modelling methodologies to develop novel technologies, improve modality accuracy and explore versatile applications. This special issue will focus on the methodology development, implementation, and applications of modelling, identification, and computing in medical imaging such as MRI, X-ray CT, PET, and ultrasound, etc. The peer-reviewed scientific reports in this collection will cover a variety of cross-disciplinary topics ranging from image processing and analysis to animal models of human pathologies relevant to biomedical imaging research.

Special attention will be given to a number of relevant topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Simulation tools and modelling
• Image reconstructions
• Image quality improvement
• Computational efficiency improvement
• Partial volume identification and correction
• Model-based analysis
• Image description
• Processing of dynamic data
• 3D/4D imaging
• Image registration
• Image segmentation
• Noise identification and filtering
• Computer aid diagnosis (CAD)
• Clinical applications of imaging
• Development and/or optimisation of animal models of human pathologies for biomedical imaging research

Important Date
The deadline for submission is: 31 July 2008

Call for papers: Near Dry - Minimum Quantity of Lubricant (MQL) Machining

Call for papers: Near Dry - Minimum Quantity of Lubricant (MQL) Machining

A special issue of International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials

The basic functions of a metal working (cutting) fluid (hereafter MWF) or simply the coolant are to provide cooling and lubrication and thus reducing the severity of the contact processes at the cutting tool–chip and cutting tool–workpiece interfaces. It is expected that MWF should also provide secondary service actions such as, for example, washing of the machined part or chip transportations as in deep-hole drilling where MWF transports the chip over significant distances. However, the cost of using MWFs is increasing as the number and the extensiveness of environmental protection laws and regulations increase. Although recent changes in MWF formulations have resulted in safer products, it is important to realise that MWFs may cause a variety of health problems. Ecological and health aspects of metalworking fluids' manufacture, use and disposal become very important due to new stricter legislation, notably in Europe.

At present, many efforts are being undertaken to develop advanced machining processes using less or no MWFs. High-pressure through-tool MWF supply, near dry machining (MQL) and dry machining have become popular avenues for reducing and/or eliminating the problems and cost associated with the MWF management. It has become apparent that, to make these technologies reliable, environmentally friendly and cost efficient, the whole picture has to be considered. Their success can be achieved if all components of machining or manufacturing system are suitable for these technologies.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research papers related to various aspects of high-pressure through tool MWF supply, near dry machining (MQL) and dry machining.

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

• Physical and tribological processes in near dry machining (MQL) and dry machining at the tool-chip and tool-workpiece interfaces: modelling, experimental studies and optimization.
• Design of the special cutting tools and apparatuses (nozzles, atomizers, holders, control and pre-setting units).
• Advanced concepts and methods, for example the "oil on water droplet", referred as OoW NDM, and advanced minimum quantity cooling lubrication NDM, referred as AMQCL.
• Advanced MWFs including bio-based, biodegradable, nanofluids etc.
• Implementation issues near dry machining (MQL) and dry machining in manufacturing cells and CNC machines.
• Ecological and health impacts.

Important Dates
Deadline for Submission: 31 December, 2008
Decision: 20 February, 2009
Revised manuscripts: 31 March, 2009

Call for papers: Data Parallelism and Stream-based Processing for Internet-based Manufacturing

Call for papers: Data Parallelism and Stream-based Processing for Internet-based Manufacturing

A special issue of International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services

Commodity grade platforms such as graphics process units (GPUs), CPU cell processors, and GPU/CPU clusters have enabled high performance computing for ever wider range of applications. Techniques are emerging in the field – such as GPGPU and high-level programmability - to make the newly found computing capacity accessible to many daily engineering and manufacturing operations, especially when data parallelism and stream-based processing are viable.

Mathematical operations such as linear algebra, differential equations and data queries can now be performed on the aforementioned platforms with up to 10x performance gain and some are even approaching the “real-time” threshold, which physically based simulation, signal and imaging processing, visualisation, and geometric computing are relying on.

This special issue attempts to encourage and report efforts in harnessing this new computing power for Internet-based manufacturing. We are inviting people from both academia and industry to submit papers on their recent research experience and solutions to be applied to Internet/Web based manufacturing and service problems.

Topics of the special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Flexible stream processor infrastructure and computing models
• High performance computing and mathematical methods for parallel data processing for Internet manufacturing, services and knowledge management
• Product design and geometric computing
• Data mining for Web-based product life-cycle engineering and data
• Remote online production planning, work flow modeling, scheduling, monitoring and control
• Neural networks and other AI techniques implementation on stream-based processors
• Physical-based simulation and analysis
• Visualisation and real-time information tracking on networks
• Networked virtual reality technology and applications

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 30 January, 2008
Notification of the Initial Decision: 29 February, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 2 May, 2008

Call for papers: New Trends on Particle Swarm Optimisation

Call for papers: New Trends on Particle Swarm Optimisation

A special issue of International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control

Particle swarm optimisation (PSO) is a new swarm intelligent modelling algorithm proposed by J.Kennedy and R.C.Eberhart since 1995. It simulates animal collective behaviours such as bird flocking and fish schooling. Due to its simple concepts, fast convergent speed, and easy implementation, PSO has been widely applied in many research areas and real-world engineering fields, such as task assignment and scheduling, reactive power and voltage control etc.

The objective of this special issue is to bring researchers from academia and industry together to report and review the latest progresses in this field, and to explore future directions.

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

• Theoretical advances in particle swarm optimisation methodology
• Particle swarm optimisation for complex constrained optimization problems
• Particle swarm optimisation for multi-objective optimisation problems
• Particle swarm optimisation for dynamic environment optimisation
• Hybrid methods combined with other optimisation techniques
• Learning and search strategies in particle swarm optimisation
• Applications of particle swarm optimisation, such as bioinformatics and cheminformatics, computational biology, etc.
• Future direction on particle swarm optimisation

Important Date
Deadline for submission: 1 September, 2008

Call for papers: Island Brands and Island Branding

Call for papers: Island Brands and Island Branding

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Islands, and small islands in particular, are amongst the most heavily themed objects in the context of tourism marketing. Island economies also have serious logistic and scale difficulties in producing manufactures that are export competitive. The notion of developing island-specific brands that piggy back freely on the island allure is therefore one that allows small island entrepreneurs to develop viable export-oriented (including tourist targeted) products. Commodities like Jamaica rum, naturally fragrant soap from Fiji, or decorative glass from Malta, thus develop into niche products that survive by maintaining high quality while avoiding high price sensitivity and elasticity. Viable manufacturing, contrary to its development in the context of industrialisation, can emerge in small island economies as a response to service sector activity.

In this special issue, authors are invited to share their thinking, basing their contributions on empirical data - especially single, comparative or multiple case study methodologies; evidence of best practice; or else adopting a more conceptual or theoretical approach.

Themes of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• The limits of island branding. Can the island allure be diluted or overdone?
• How do small island entrepreneurs capitalize on islandness?
• How does being on an island - on the periphery, far from the metropole - facilitate or hinder entrepreneurship and small business development?
• What is the role of the diaspora - the population of islanders living away from their island - in promoting island entrepreneurship, small business, and product development with a view to tapping export markets?
• Small island societies are tightly-knit, intensely networked, and very close to their politicians. How does this socio-political context affect island entrepreneurship, small business, and product development?
• How does one develop an island brand that is supportive of business initiatives?
• Any other subject related to island branding, island brands, and their inter-relationship

Important Date
Deadline for submission of papers: 31 March 2008

Call for papers: Gaining from Partnership: Transfer Technology - Issues and Challenges in Transitional Economies

Call for papers: Gaining from Partnership: Transfer Technology - Issues and Challenges in Transitional Economies

A special issue of International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation

Technology transfer is not about selling some hardware to a client who is then left with the task of using it as he/she deems fit. Technology transfer is the imparting of knowledge, skills and methodologies involved in the whole production cycle. Technology transfer is a system that encompasses the social and economic fabric of a country. Where technology has been effectively transferred, there should be a visible change - from the person to the production system as well as compatibility with the needs, in the institutional framework, skills, training, financial capacity, promotion, and active support of endogenous capacity and appreciation of the natural environment of the recipient country. Obviously, there are problems that act as barriers to appropriate technology transfer such as local capacity as well as the multinationals whose financial powers have in many cases weakened the strengths of governments. But a much bigger problem in effective and appropriate technology transfer is focused on the priorities of the donor or purveyor.

There is a strong need for linkages to be developed and maintained between industry and research organisations. This requires the effective identification and specification of research needs, and knowledge of relevant research that is being conducted. For this to happen, industry needs to be involved at an early stage of research, so as to be able to participate even in the research definition stage. At the same time, public sector research organisations need to be prepared to support industry in the commercialisation process. Efforts to erase preconceptions that build barriers to successful technology transfer should also be taken. By creating partnerships among industry, government agencies and academia, the Triple Helix model, by promoting transfer technology, contributes to economic development on local, regional, and national levels. The introduction of a technology into a transition country is understood by some developed countries as having achieved the objective of technology transfer.

The goal of this special issue is to explore the importance and current use of transfer technology in transition countries. Although submitted manuscripts may focus on theory development, empirical testing, or case analysis, they should further understanding of why and how transfer technology could and do influence economic development in theory and practice. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Overview of technology transfer legislation
• Technology transfer related organisations
• Technology paradigm in transition countries
• Technology transfer and institutional development
• Role of MNCs for transition countries
• Approaches in the diffusion of knowledge or technology
• Importance of technology networks
• Important implications for Western-CEE partners in TT
• Technology acquisition and knowledge exploitation
• Technology strategy in SMEs
• Benefits and risks of technology transfer
• Technological management and role of multiculturalism
• Forms of intellectual property
• Overview of patents and copyright
• Trademarks and trade secrets
• Owning and protecting intellectual property
• Knowledge sourcing by foreign multinational
• Models of TT mechanisms
• Government funded programmes
• Grants and cooperative agreements

Important Date
eadline: 1 May 2008

Call for papers: Role of Entrepreneurship and Technology Business Incubation for Sustainable Growth of SMEs in ... Developing Countries

Call for papers: Role of Entrepreneurship and Technology Business Incubation for Sustainable Growth of SMEs in Changing Economic Scenarios in Developing Countries

A special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) have emerged as the most dynamic and vibrant sector and proved to be the backbone of a national economy, particularly in developing countries. Although the globalisation and the changing economic environment have posed certain challenges to the development of SMEs, they have provided opportunities for SMEs as well. For example, the challenges came in the form of increased competition, shorter life cycle of products and technology, reduced protection due to lower tariffs, and market determined rate of interest, whereas the opportunities were presented in the form of access to better technology, availability of a variety of raw materials and components, impetus to quality and efficiency, and opportunities to restructure and diversify. To face these challenges and to seize these opportunities, today’s entrepreneurs are forced to develop innovative products, efficient production techniques and effective technology management for sustainability of their units. Indeed, the entrepreneurial innovative approach is expected to contribute to sustainable growth of SMEs, and to economic development.

True, entrepreneurship is the essence of economic development, but it cannot exist without technological innovation. Science Parks, Innovation Centres and Technology Business Incubators are similar initiatives in creating an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. These initiatives foster interactions between academia and industry for sharing ideas and experiences and for developing new technology in order to transfer it to the end-users through SMEs. Merely creating such facilities, planning programmes and delivering training is not sufficient; equally important is the vision and strategy that educate entrepreneurs and empower them for change. Clearly, there is a need for faculty and educators to generate entrepreneurs for the twenty-first century that are agile and professional.

Given the role of academia in developing entrepreneurship for sustainable development of SMEs, the aim of this special issue is to provide a common platform to researchers, scholars and practitioners to address issues relating to the subjects mentioned in the next section. Manuscripts based on entrepreneurial and innovation orientations are particularly suitable for this issue, so are the comparative studies conducted in developing countries.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Entrepreneurship education and its role in regional development
• Role of academic society in hi-tech business development
• Role of SMEs in developing countries
• Role of entrepreneurship and SMEs in innovation
• Research methodology and theory relating to development of SMEs

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 June, 2008
Decision on the manuscripts: 15 September, 2008
Submission of the revised manuscripts: 30 October, 2008
Final decision on the manuscripts: 30 December, 2008

Call for papers: Delivering Electronic Government

Call for papers: Delivering Electronic Government

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Governance

E-government is enabling governments to service and facilitate the citizen in ways that one could not have imagined in the past. It is also helping to usher in a process of reform in the working of local and central governments, so that governments are more aligned to the aspirations of citizens and also those of government staff. The scope of applying e-government is really vast and the future holds abundant promise. The extent to which the promise of e-government is realised depends on the efficacy of e-government delivery.

However, delivering e-government remains a challenging task. Problems in delivering e-government services are mostly organisational and political rather than technical. Therefore, if e-government initiatives are to prove successful, then the challenges involved in dealing with the mindset, culture and politics of public organisations cannot be ignored.

The focus of this special issue is the effective delivery of e-government and its impact. Authors are therefore requested to contribute research articles and success stories of e-government across the globe, which will enable exchange as well as advancement of research and practice in the area. Specifically, original unpublished research papers, case studies and experience reports are sought; these should cover the various sub-disciplines pertinent to the delivery of e-government at local and central government level.

1. Delivering e-government

Contributions are sought on a set of themes that include, but are not exclusively limited to, the following topics:

• Cultural, social and political issues of delivering e-government
• Organisational and legal issues of delivering e-government
• Technical aspects of delivering e-government
• Methodologies for delivering e-government
• Government process re-engineering
• Outsourcing in government
• Public-Private-People Partnership
• Government service delivery in rural areas

2. Delivering e-government cases with considerable impact

For each case, the following information should be provided:

• Description of case
• Problem addressed and solution achieved
• Policy context and strategy
• Delivering e-government methodology
• Evaluation of effectiveness and impact assessment
• Results and lessons learned

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 31 December, 2007
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 31 January, 2008
Final (camera-ready) papers submission: 28 February, 2008

Call for papers: Performance and the City

Call for papers: Performance and the City

A special issue of International Journal of Arts and Technology

This special issue seeks long- and short-form submissions exploring historical and contemporary relationships between live performance and the city, especially those prompted or mediated by technological development.

"[W]ith the first great expansion of civilization: instead of an explosion of power, there was an implosion. The city was the container that brought about this implosion, and through its very form held together the new forces, intensified their internal reactions, and raised the whole level of achievement… [T]he city exhibited an ambivalent character it has never wholly lost: it combined the maximum amount of protection with the greatest incentives to aggression: it offered the widest possible freedom and diversity, yet imposed a drastic system of compulsion and regimentation…" (L. Mumford, 1961)

"What I call 'guerrilla theater' for instance, can respond immediately. Some people call it living theater, some people call it newspaper theater. Whatever it is, street theater, it can respond immediately to both events and the changing pattern of events. It responds to the dynamics of any situation... [T]heater, because of its nature, both text, images, multimedia effects, has a wider base of communication with an audience." (W. Soyinka, 1998)

Technology drives (and can reveal) the rhythms of our cities. It modulates information flow, mediates our rituals and is in the midst of some of our most essential invitations to be together: urban public space and live performance. Performance has been vitalized by technology at times and rightly shunned it at others. It is employed to reinforce and defy dominant local powers. More often than not, it mixes these "opposites”, as in the sanctioned transgressions of street carnivals or uses of technology so expensive they require patronage even for works challenging accepted concepts of innovation and progress.

From artists, technologists, historians and planners, cultural geographers, and those of liminal spaces in-between, IJART seeks original writings that probe how two significant crystallizations of human life, performance and the city, interact despite, through, and with technology. Submissions can explore a particular group of artistic works, technologies, urban places, or time periods as they relate to these themes. They could also provide a broader analysis weaving together multiple threads of urban history, science and technology, or cultural theory. Each submission should be written in a way that is accessible to the multidisciplinary audience of the journal.

Important Dates
Abstract (optional): 3 December, 2007
Paper submission: 21 January, 2008
Acceptance notification: 10 March, 2008
Camera ready papers due: 21 April, 2008

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Society Systems Science

Society faces many significant challenges nowadays: pollution, poverty, pain, terrorism, crime, greenhouse effect, war, disease, starvation, road accidents, inflation/deflation, unemployment, pornography, great suffering, ignorance, pesticide poisoning, and falsehood, to just name a few. It could be argued that scientists have spent too much time on many not-so-urgent issues and put too little effort into these challenges at the present time. Some researchers have veered from the mainstream of our society.

International Journal of Society Systems Science - to begin publication in 2008 - will eliminate the barriers between

• social and natural sciences
• theory and applications
• hard decision models and soft ones
• different disciplines in the business world
• government and industry
• the ivory tower and real society

It will call for attention to the interdisciplinary principles, architectures, techniques, methodologies, models, as well as the appropriate strategies, that can solve the various society-related dilemmas.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine

Functional informatics and personalised medicine are interactive disciplines that hold great promise for the advancement of cutting-edge research and development in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. Research and advances in these two areas influence board ranges of medical and engineering fields. International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine - to begin publication in 2008 - will provide a common platform for the cross-fertilisation of ideas, and aims to help shape scientific knowledge and medical achievements by bridging these two very important and complementary disciplines into an interactive and attractive forum.

The journal will publish broad-spectrum of original research papers that foster the applications of medical science, computer science, engineering sciences, environmental science, food science, applied mathematics and statistics.

Inderscience journals are co-sponsors of the 2008 National Emergency Management Summit

The International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management and International Journal of Emergency Management are among the co-sponsors of the Second National Emergency Management Summit, the leading forum on medical preparedness and response to disasters, epidemics and terrorism. The Summit is to be held in Washington, DC on 3-5 February 2008.

Special issue: Control and protection of distribution systems with distributed generators

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy 5(5) 2007 is a special issue: Control and protection of distribution systems with distributed generators.

Article titles:
* Control and protection of distribution systems with distributed generators
* The impact of the protection scheme of converter-connected distributed generation on power system transient stability
* Spline function-based adaptive overcurrent grading for multifeed distribution systems
* Controlling the power balance in an 'empty network'
* Power conditioning of an uncontrolled micro-hydroturbine-driven induction generator for distributed generation using a battery energy storage system
* Grid interconnection of microturbine-based distributed generation system
* Wind energy and system security – the grid connection moratorium in Ireland

Special issue: Supply chain learning and change

International Journal of Learning and Change 2(2) 2007 is a special issue: Supply chain learning and change.

Article titles:
* Learning to integrate: supply chains reconceptualised
* Benchmarking operations to promote learning: an internal supply chain perspective
* Visualisation for system learning in supply chains
* An innovative Supply Chain Management programme structure: broadening the SCM skill set

Special issue: Third Australian Conferences on Information Security Management; Computer, Network and Information Forensics

International Journal of Information and Computer Security 1(4) 2007 is a special issue with papers from the 3rd Australian Information Security Management and the 3rd Australian Computer, Network and Information Forensics Conferences held at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, 29–30 September 2005.

Article titles:
* An information-centric and proactive approach to Information Security teaching
* E-business security benchmarking: a model and framework
* Radio Frequency Identification: a review of low cost tag security proposals
* Smart Cards for mobile devices
* Medical data security: Are you informed or afraid?
* Honeypot technologies and their applicability as a strategic internal countermeasure
* Document access control in organisational workflows
* A conceptual framework for curbing the epidemic of information malice: e-hygiene model with a human-factor approach

Special issue: Middleware for web services

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 2(3) 2007 is a special issue: Middleware for web services, with papers from the 2005 Middleware for Web Services workshop (MWS, 2005) held on 19 September 2005 at the EDOC 2005 conference in Enschede, The Netherlands.

Article titles:
* Improving the quality of business and quality of experience in web services through prioritising and scheduling
* An evaluation of the performance of web services using table-driven XML
* Policy-driven middleware for adaptive web services composition
* Rule-based business collaboration development and management
* An application of augmented MDA for the extended healthcare enterprise
* A secure service-based collaborative workflow system