Health Services Utilization among Older Adults in Pokhara Metropolitan City.

The Government of Nepal provides a range of welfare schemes to senior citizens, but little is known about the use of public benefits by older adults. This community-based cross-sectional survey thus aims to assess the utilization and correlates of health services (through both private and public health facilities), free essential health services (provided by the government through public health facilities), and other welfare schemes - discounts in health treatment for certain diseases, monthly senior citizen allowance, reservation and concession in transportation, and the government-run health insurance program - among 201 Nepali older adults. Notably, a sizable proportion of the participants (22.4%) did not visit a health facility despite having a health problem. Females and those with higher co-morbidity had higher odds of health facility visits. Only 8% utilized the free essential health services, and 47% one or more of the other welfare schemes. Lack of awareness of free health services and welfare schemes were associated with lower odds of their utilization, respectively.

Rhapidosomes from Aquaspirillum itersonii: disruption and subsequent renaturation and characterization of the component proteins.

Rhapidosomes, tubular proteinaceous microstructures found in a variety of bacteria and algae, are resistant to disruption by many denaturing agents. They have potential application as a biomaterial and may also serve as a model for the study of self-assembly. Several reagents were tested for their ability to disrupt rhapidosomes isolated from Aquaspirillum itersonii into their component proteins. Only treatments with 01 M hydrochloric acid and 6 M guanidinium hydrochloride were found to disrupt rhapidosomes. A protocol was developed to renature the disrupted component proteins using rapid dilution and subsequent dialysis of the residual guanidinium hydrochloride. The renatured proteins were shown to have secondary structure as determined by circular dichroism. Furthermore, upon renaturation the two component proteins interacted with each other to form a complex of molecular mass > 2500 kDa. This complex, which may be a precursor in the pathway to rhapidosome formation, is currently being used to study the self-assembly process of these unique structures in vitro.