Distance is no hurdle: Reforming the family violence exception to better protect immigrant women in rural, regional and remote communities

After careful consideration consistent with COPE guidelines, the editorial staff has concluded that there is no case of plagiarism associated with this article. (10th August, 2016)The editors have received allegations that the paper references arguments and evidence without attribution to pre-existing literature, and that it exhibits stylistic similarities to other sources on the same topic. The editors are currently conducting an investigation under the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines to confirm or refute the allegations. (29th June, 2016)This article considers the impact of migration laws on immigrant women in rural, regional and remote communities (RRR communities) who are victims of family violence. The Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (‘the Regulations’) includes a ‘family violence exception’ that allows for the grant of permanent residency to women who hold a temporary partner visa in circumstances where the relationship with the Australian sponsor has broken down due to family violence. However, the Regulations impose strict procedural and evidentiary requirements for making a family violence claim. These laws disproportionately impact those in RRR communities by failing to account for their isolation, lack of access to services and particular vulnerabilities. As a result, immigrant women in RRR communities are restricted in their ability to access the family violence exception.This article calls for reform of the Regulations to address the locational disadvantages faced by immigrant women in RRR communities. Building on the work of the Australian Law Reform Commission, it argues for the repeal of the provisions governing evidentiary requirements for ‘non-judicially determined’ claims of family violence. In its place, it is suggested that there should be no restrictions on the types of evidence that can be provided. In addition, all non-judicially determined family violence claims would be referred to an ‘independent expert panel’ for assessment. The independent expert panel should include, at a minimum, a number of community legal centres (CLCs) and family violence centres (FVCs) around Australia. CLCs and FVCs are leveraging technology — such as Skype and teleconferencing — and integrated service responses to provide access to justice to those in RRR communities

App-lying Knowledge: MyPCOS App Guiding Symptomatic Women to PCOS Awareness

This study delves into the effectiveness of educating women about polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) alongside the utilization of a dedicated mobile health application in raising awareness about PCOS and promoting healthcare-seeking behavior. PCOS, a prevalent endocrine and metabolic disorder affecting 8-13% of women in their reproductive age, lacks definitive remedies, and its underlying causes remain elusive. The primary objective is to establish that empowering women with knowledge about PCOS, facilitated by the MyPCOS mobile app, can lead to increased awareness and encourage them to seek further evaluation from healthcare providers. Rooted in the Health Promotion Model (HPM), the study adopts a quasi-experimental design with a control and intervention group, employing pre-test and post-test assessments. A sample of 50 female college students aged 18-25 undergoes an educational session, with the intervention group using the MyPCOS app, while the control group does not. Data analysis includes various statistical tests to compare knowledge levels, app usage, and healthcare-seeking behavior. Acknowledging limitations, such as a small sample size and reliance on self-reported data, the study upholds ethical principles, emphasizing informed consent, participant privacy, and ongoing well-being monitoring. The overarching aim is to contribute valuable insights into the role of mobile health interventions in enhancing PCOS awareness and fostering proactive healthcare engagement among women

The emerging business of science in Vietnam

Manh-Tung Ho, Khanh-Linh Hoang, Minh-Hoang Nguyen, Manh-Toan Ho (2019). Chapter 8. The emerging business of science in Vietnam. In Quan-Hoang Vuong, Trung Tran (Eds.), The Vietnamese Social Sciences at a Fork in the Road (pp. 163–177). Warsaw, Poland: De Gruyter. DOI:10.2478/9783110686081-013. Online ISBN: 9783110686081 © 2019 Sciendo / De Gruyte

Scrambling for higher metrics in the Journal Impact Factor bubble period: a real-world problem in science management and its implications

Universities and funders in many countries have been using Journal Impact Factor (JIF) as an indicator for research and grant assessment despite its controversial nature as a statistical representation of scientific quality. This study investigates how the changes of JIF over the years can affect its role in research evaluation and science management by using JIF data from annual Journal Citation Reports (JCR) to illustrate the changes. The descriptive statistics find out an increase in the median JIF for the top 50 journals in the JCR, from 29.300 in 2017 to 33.162 in 2019. Moreover, on average, elite journal families have up to 27 journals in the top 50. In the group of journals with a JIF of lower than 1, the proportion has shrunk by 14.53% in the 2015–2019 period. The findings suggest a potential ‘JIF bubble period’ that science policymaker, university, public fund managers, and other stakeholders should pay more attention to JIF as a criterion for quality assessment to ensure more efficient science management

The prospects of rainwater harvesting in the Ho CHi Minh City

Wisely using natural water resources to serve human needs plays a decisive role in ensuring water and food security. In the natural water cycle, rainwater is considered as a valuable renewable resource. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) for daily life and production is a simple but effective and also environmentally sound measure. It is also a positive solution in a climate change adaptation strategy. However, this resource is being wasted in our country in general and in the HCM City in particular. This paper provides an overview of the status of rainwater use in the world; the general situation, the potential of rainwater collection and a number of issues related to the potential of rainwater harvesting in the city. Some solutions to enhance the use of rainwater and improve water supply for city residents are also suggested in this discussion

Increasing Technology-Based Driver’s Productivity Under Covid-19 Pandemic in Vietnam: the Significant Contribution of Consumer Behavior

Purpose: Ride-hailing service, after the emergence in Hanoi – capital of Vietnam in 2014, has experienced major development and gradually enhanced the inner-city travelling of citizens. This study aims at investigating technology-based driver productivity perception and identifying several important influencing factors during the period of COVID-19 pandemic   Design/methodology/approach: The samples of 370 technology-based drivers have been surveyed to collect significant data about factors impacting on worker productivity in Vietnam ride-hailing service. SPSS 26 software is conducted with two types of analyses, including descriptive analysis and statistical analysis   Findings: The findings indicate that social distances, service waste and customer behaviors possess significant impacts on worker productivity in Vietnam ride-hailing services. Several special concerned factors have been identified to raise driver’s awareness of productivity improvement in ride-hailing service.   Research, Practical and Social implication: Major implications can be suggested for improving driver productivity during and after COVID-19 pandemic, especially in term of reducing service waste and increasing customer behavior towards ride-hailing services.   Originality/value: Basing on research findings, the study becomes significant contribution to further papers as well as service managers to enhance technological driver productivity during COVID-19 pandemic.