EFFECTS OF KINESIO-TAPING VS DRY NEEDLING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN

Background of the study: Mechanical pain of musculoskeletal origin, known as nonspecific LBP (NSLBP), has symptoms that change depending on the type of physical activity [1]. About 85% of her LBP patients present in primary care settings are NSLBP patients. Methodology: Randomized control trial (RCT) conducted between between January 2020 and October, 2021, Rawal General and Dental Hospital and Al-Nafees, the hospital in Islamabad. Thirty patients were included in the study. Two participants were discontinued. There were two groups of patients i.e., 15 patients in the KT group and 13 patients in the DN group diagnosed of NSCLBP by orthopedic surgeon and referral to outpatient physiotherapy clinic. The Sample size was calculated using the OpenEpi scale. The Consent form was filled out by the participants before the initiation of the study. Pain Rating Scale, Roland-Morris Disability Index Questionnaire (RMDQ) and Global patient rating scale (PGR) were assessed at baseline, two weeks post-intervention and four weeks post-treatment. Results: Before treatment, there were no differences between the groups for PNRS, RMDQ and PGR. Both DN and KT produced significant improvements in all baseline measures (PNRS, RMDQ and PGR) after two weeks and four weeks of treatment (p<0.05). Considerable improvements were observed in all variables in both groups after treatment. However, Statistical analysis ANOVA showed no significant differences in almost all measures between groups. (p>0.05). Conclusion: Kinesio-taping is as effective as DN in managing back pain. When treating back pain, adding DN or KT to your exercise program can make a significant contribution to your treatment.

Determination of Neonicotinoids in Selected Fruits and Vegetables and Their Impact on Nutritional Attributes

The increased incidence of crop resistance to large number of insecticide has led to the development of new active ingredients which have been successfully applied to control pests in different agricultural and food commodities. Due to increased demand of food, research has been focused regarding the risks of food contaminated with pesticide residues. Hence, current study was designed to optimize and validate HPLC based determination of neonicotinoid residues including imidacloprid, acetamiprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam in selected fruits and vegetables and their effect on antioxidant potential and mineral profile. The selected fruits (guava and citrus) and vegetables (cauliflower, tomato and okra) were treated with neonicotinoid insecticides at a concentration of 0.5 mg/plant. The samples were harvested at different time intervals (0, 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days) after foliar spray and extracted using acetonitrile for neonicotinoid residues. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based method was validated successfully to analyze neonicotinoid residues. The antioxidant potential of selected fruits and vegetables was assessed at different harvest intervals in terms of their potential to hunt DPPH free radicals, ability to inhibit peroxidation in linoleic acid system and reducing power. The results regarding method validation evaluated that optimized HPLC-DAD method was linear over broad range of selected neonicotinoid concentrations. The residual levels of insecticides in selected fruits and vegetables at different time intervals revealed the decline in concentration (0.95-0.01μg/g) of neonicotinoids with the passage of time. Determination of neonicotinoid concentrations (0.5-0.95 μg/g) on the same day (after one hour of foliar spray) was higher than recommended Maximum Residue Limit (MRL), established by Codex Alimentarius Commission. After 7 days of foliar spray, only okra samples contained imadacloprid and acetamiprid residues (0.66 ± 0.02 and 0.58 ± 0.01) above than MRL (0.5μg/g). But these residues were not detected or found below MRL after 21 days of foliar application. The antioxidant behavior speculated that all fruits and vegetable contained good amounts of phenolic (2.53 ± 0.05 -63.18 mg Gallic Acid Equivalents (GAE)/g of extract) with substantial level of antioxidant activities following inclusive order as citrus > guava > okra > cauliflower > tomato. Overall, it was concluded that residues of neonicotinoid insecticides were within permissible limits after 21 days of foliar practices. However, neonicotinoids utilization in selected food commodities depleted the mineral profile but improved antioxidant character at the end of harvest interval (28 days). The study further suggested pre-harvest interval of 14 days for selected fruit and vegetables that would be optimistically safe according to health point of view.