EFFECTS OF MULLIGAN ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT VERSUS MEDIAL GAPPING TECHNIQUE ON PAIN, RANGE OF MOTION AND DISABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Background and Aim: To compare the effects of mulligan rotational movement and medial gapping technique on pain, range of motion and disability in knee osteoarthritis patients. Methodology: This study was a Randomized Clinical Trial. The data was collected using a convenience sampling technique. Data was collected from Jinnah Hospital Lahore, from 15th December – 30th June 2022.36 subjects (males and females) were recruited in two groups. The first group received Mobilization with movement along with a conservative treatment protocol. The second group received the Medial gapping technique along with conservative treatment protocol. Each group was treated for four weeks in which three sessions per week were given. Numeric pain rating scale and the disability index were used as outcome measures. Data was analyzed through statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results: Within-group comparison by paired t-test showed the p-value was significant <.05, indicating that both treatment was effective in improving symptoms. Between groups, comparison by independent t-test showed that Mulligan Mobilization Technique is more effective than the medial gapping technique in improving pain disability and quality of life. Conclusion: The study concluded that Mulligan Mobilization Technique provides more clinical benefits regarding pain, disability and range of motion in osteoarthritis patients than Medial Gapping Technique.

Genetic Basis of Heat Tolerance and Some Yield Components in Zea Mayas L.

The seeds of one hundred maize inbred lines collected from various research organizations were planted in two sets, one under normal and the other under high temperature conditions in a plastic tunnel for the purpose of screening against heat at reproductive stage. Based on the actual and relative values for leaf temperature, cell membrane thermo-stability, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf firing, kernels per ear, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant, one heat tolerant (ZL-11271) and one heat susceptible (R-2304-2) parents were selected and crossed to develop six basic generations comprised parents (P1, P2), hybrid (F1) and segregating generations (BC1, BC2, F2) in subsequent cropping seasons. All these generations were then evaluated under both normal (field) and heat-stressed (plastic tunnel) conditions using factorial randomized complete block design with three replications. The recorded data under both the conditions on various morphological and physiological plant traits were analyzed in nested block design for one way, two way and partitioned analysis of variances which revealed statistically significant differences (P≤0.01-0.05) for all the characters except anthesis-silking interval. Generation mean analysis of plant traits recorded under normal conditions revealed both additive and dominance genetic effects alongwith epistatic interactions for leaf temperature, cell membrane thermo-stability, stomatal conductance, leaf firing, plant height, ear leaf area, days to maturity, ear length, kernels per ear, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant. For all these traits except stomatal conductance, dominance effects were more pronounced than additive estimates. Only additive genetic effects alongwith epistatic interactions were revealed for transpiration rate, days to tasseling and days to silking under normal conditions. Days to silking and days to maturity had dominance genetic effects with no epistatic interaction while traits like leaf temperature, cell membrane thermo-stability, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf firing, plant height, days to tasseling, ear leaf area, ear length, kernels per ear, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant revealed both additive and dominance genetic effects alongwith epistatic interactions under heat-stressed conditions. Additive genetic effects were greater in magnitude for leaf temperature, cell membrane thermo-stability and stomatal conductance while estimates of dominance genetic effects were higher in case of transpiration rate, leaf firing, plant height, ear leaf area, ear length, kernels per ear, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant under heat-stressed regime. Estimates of broad sense heritability were higher than that of narrow sense heritability while estimates of narrow sense heritability for infinity generation were greater than its F2 generation for all the traits. Considering the estimates of heritability and genetic advance at once suggested that only simple selections might be enough for further improvement of traits such as cell membrane thermo-stability, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, leaf firing, ear length, kernels per ear and grain yield per plant under both the condition. Grain yield per plant had positive and significant association with stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, ear length and kernels per ear while negative but significant with leaf temperature, cell membrane thermo-stability, leaf firing and 100-grain weight at both genotypic and phenotypic levels under both normal and heat-stressed conditions. Ear leaf area exhibited positive and negative association only at genotypic level with grain yield under normal and heat-stressed conditions, respectively. It can be concluded that traits like cell membrane thermo-stability, ear leaf area and kernels per ear may be given priority in breeding strategies for achieving improvement in maize grain yield under high temperature circumstances.