Development and characterization of natural sourced bioplastic for food packaging applications.

Climate change and increased pollution caused by traditional petrochemical plastics made the biodegradable environment-friendly plastic (bioplastic) research more popular. Bioplastics can be manufactured from natural renewable ingredients and used as food packaging material without harming the environment. This research work focuses on developing bioplastic films from natural ingredients such as starch of tamarind seeds, and berry seeds, with licorice root.

Psychosocial mechanisms of change in symptoms of Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder amongst refugees from Myanmar over the course of Integrative Adapt Therapy.

: The ability to adapt to the psychosocial disruptions associated with the refugee experience may influence the course of complicated grief reactions. : We examine these relationships amongst Myanmar refugees relocated to Malaysia who participated in a six-week course of Integrative Adapt Therapy (IAT). : Participants (n = 170) included Rohingya, Chin, and Kachin refugees relocated to Malaysia.

Variations in prevalence and risk profiles for Common Mental Disorders amongst Rohingya, Chin and Kachin refugees from Myanmar.

Background: Large variations in prevalence rates of common mental disorder (CMD) amongst refugees and forcibly displaced populations have raised questions about the accuracy and value of epidemiological surveys in these cross-cultural settings. We examined the associations of sociodemographic indices, premigration traumatic events (TEs), postmigration living difficulties (PMLDs), and psychosocial disruptions based on the Adaptive Stress Index (ASI) in relation to CMD prevalence amongst the Rohingya, Chin and Kachin refugees originating from Myanmar and relocated to Malaysia.

Methods: Parallel epidemiological studies were conducted in areas where the three groups were concentrated in and around Malaysia (response rates: 80-83%).

An Integrative Adapt Therapy for common mental health symptoms and adaptive stress amongst Rohingya, Chin, and Kachin refugees living in Malaysia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to compare 6-week posttreatment outcomes of an Integrative Adapt Therapy (IAT) to a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) on common mental health symptoms and adaptive capacity amongst refugees from Myanmar. IAT is grounded on psychotherapeutic elements specific to the refugee experience.

Methods And Findings: We conducted a single-blind RCT (October 2017 -May 2019) with Chin (39.

Functional impairment as a proxy measure indicating high rates of trauma exposure, post-migration living difficulties, common mental disorders, and poor health amongst Rohingya refugees in Malaysia.

A major challenge in the refugee field is to ensure that scarce mental health resources are directed to those in greatest need. Based on data from an epidemiological survey of 959 adult Rohingya refugees in Malaysia (response rate: 83%), we examine whether a brief screening instrument of functional impairment, the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS), prove useful as a proxy measure to identify refugees who typically attend community mental health services. Based on estimates of mental disorder requiring interventions from analyses of epidemiological studies conducted worldwide, we selected a WHODAS cutoff that identified the top one-fifth of refugees according to severity of functional impairment, the remainder being distributed to moderate and lower impairment groupings, respectively.