Author：Wu,Chaoxian;Lu,Shaofeng;Xue,Fei;Jiang,Lin;Yang,Jie

Abstract:With the increasing application of railway transportation, energy consumption of railway transportation rises dramatically, which in turn undermines its sustainability. Optimization on train speed profile and use of regenerative energy is becoming a feasible and applicable approach to achieve an energy-efficient operation without changing existing infrastructures. Considering both dwelling at stations and running in the inter-station sections, the paper proposes an integrated optimization model for reducing net energy consumption from the viewpoint of energy interaction among train, substation and on-board energy storage device (ESD), based on which the optimal train speed profile is also found. The discharge/charge strategy of on-board ESD is explored and comparative case studies are given, under the assumption of higher efficiency from the on-board ESD, less net energy consumption can be achieved via energy interaction with substation. Through charging from substation the net energy consumption can be reduced, i.e. 0.2%%, in the comparison.

Author：Williams, ML;Ertas, A;Tate, D

Abstract:Inherent in biologically inspired design (BID) is the selection of one or more analogs from which one or more strategies are extracted and transferred into the engineering domain. The selection of an analog is a fundamental step in biomimetic process, but locating relevant biological analogies can be challenging. Often, designers may fixate on an analogy or choose an established analogy without rigorous examination of alternatives. This practice is problematic-as basing a new design on an invalid assumption can lead to suboptimal results. This paper makes contribution to evaluation of analogy utility. The contribution is made by combining stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) with a set of criteria, derived from BID, to assist multidisciplinary decision makers (DMs) in evaluating candidate design analogs. The resulting framework, which we call the biotransferability framework, is being developed to assist multidisciplinary teams to choose, rank, or sort candidate design analogs by assessing biology-to-engineering transfer risk.

Author：Chong,Woon Kian;Sun,Yan;Zhang,Nan;Man,Ka Lok

Abstract:Business-To-Business electronic marketplace (B2B e-Marketplace), an electronic platform for buyers and sellers, provides a new dimension in facilitating the marketers to work more effectively when making critical marketing decisions. However, small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) who are keen to compete in the electronic environment remain concerned as how their businesses can benefit from B2B e-Marketplace. We therefore developed a conceptual framework in which multiple facet of e-Marketing services derived from B2B e-Marketplace are linked to e-Business performance. We will use an adjusted NK simulation to test how Demographic Characteristics, Perceived Risk and Online Data Security influence the relationships between B2B e-Marketplace adoption and e-Business performance. The proposed framework will provide a guideline for academics and practitioners and highlights the significant role of each factor in developing and sustaining effective B2B e-Commerce practice for SMEs. Furthermore, SME managers also can derive a better understanding and measurement of marketing activities that appropriately balance between traditional and B2B e-Commerce practice. At the same time, the developed framework can be integrated into the companies to determine the level of e-Business performance in the B2B marketplace. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Author：Liao,Dan;Zhu,Guangyang;Li,Yayu;Sun,Gang;Chang,Victor

Abstract:Since the popularity and development of Cloud Computing, Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Service Function Chain (SFC) provisioning have attracted more and more attentions from researchers. With the increasing of the number of users and demands for network resources, network resources are becoming extremely valuable. Therefore, it is necessary for designing an efficient algorithm to provision the SFC with the minimum consumption of bandwidth resources. In this paper, we study the problem of cost efficient deploying for SFCs to reduce the consumption of bandwidth resources. We propose an efficient algorithm for SFC deployment based on the strategies of layering physical network and evaluating physical network nodes to minimize the bandwidth resource consumption (SFCD-LEMB). It aims at deploying the Virtualization Network Functions (VNFs) of the SFC onto appropriate nodes and mapping the SFC onto reasonable path by layering the physical network. Simulation results show that the average gains on bandwidth consumption, acceptance ratio and time efficiency of our algorithm are 50%%, 15%% and 60%%, respectively.

Author：Li,Qiuchen;Xing,Jinkun;Liu,Ou;Chong,Woonkian

Abstract:Nowadays, huge amounts of data are exchanged and collected in the business world every day. For e-commerce firms, data from different sources (e.g. online transactions, search history and social media) can be analysed and provide insights to business managers. As many e-commerce companies claimed, Big Data Analytics (BDA) is the most efficient way to dig out the insights and to develop specific strategy for the company so far. Therefore, this project aims at exploring the effects of BDA brought on customers’ online behaviour to examine whether the BDA is as successful as firms stated.

Author：Yuen,Kevin Kam Fung

Abstract:With rapid growth of Software-as-a-Services (SaaS) products in cloud paradigm, evaluation of SaaS product is essential for an enterprise to purchase a software service whilst there are a number of alternatives. This paper proposes the primitive cognitive network process (P-CNP) approach to measure the SaaS products in multi-criteria decision making aspect. The P-CNP is the rectified approach of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in the aspects of paired interval scale and the corresponding mathematical development. The proposed approach can support the business decision maker to select the best cloud service product through user experiences and preferences. © 2012 IEEE.