-One of the obstacles in the way of wide scale industrial application of biosurfactants is the high production cost coupled with a low production rate. In order to lower the production cost surfactin production by Bacillus subtilis MTCC 2423 was studied in submerged batch cultivation using waste frying oils. It was observed that the decrease in surface tension was 56.32%, 48.5% and 46.1% with glucose, waste frying sunflower oil and waste frying rice bran oil, respectively. Biomass formation was 4.36 g/L, 3.67 g/L and 4.67 g/L for glucose, waste frying sunflower oil and waste frying rice bran oil, respectively. Product yield (g product/g substrate) was 2.1%, 1.49% and 1.1% with glucose, waste frying sunflower oil and waste frying rice bran oil as substrates. This process facilitates safe disposal of waste frying oil, as well reducing the production cost of surfactin.

Rhamnolipids production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 2297 was studied, using waste frying rice bran oil as carbon substrate. Response surface methodology was employed to arrive at the optimum production condition. Maximum rhamnolipids production (7.6 g/l) was attained with waste frying rice bran oil at 34.8 g/l, with sodium nitrate at 3.9 g/l. Optimum temperature and initial pH were found to be 34°C and 7.4. Batch washing experiments were used to evaluate the efficiency of rhamnolipids on remediating coppercontaminated soils. Synthesized rhamnolipids were used at different concentrations from 0.5 to 2% with and without 1% sodium hydroxide at a fixed ratio of 4:1. It was found out that 2% rhamnolipids removed 71% and 74% of copper from soil with initial concentrations 474 and 4,484 ppm, respectively. The use of waste frying oil in the production of rhamnolipids which was used in the bioremediation of copper-contaminated soil results in an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and specific alternative to various physical and chemical methods of remediating polluted soil.

Starmerella bombicola a teleomorph of Candida bombicola is capable of producing extracellular secondary metabolites known as sophorolipids. In the present work the performance of Starmerella in producing sophorolipids, with standard medium ingredients glucose, sunflower oil, yeast extract and urea was studied. The quantities of different medium ingredients were optimized to maximize the production of sophorolipids. Variation in tensiometric properties like surface tension and interfacial tension during the incubation period were also reported. The optimized mixed substrate composition was found to be 200 g/l, containing equal amounts of glucose and sunflower oil, 4 g/l of yeast extract and 0.6 g/l of urea. With the optimized substrate composition 38.6 g/l of sophorolipids was obtained. The minimum surface tension produced by the culture free cell broth was 36.2 mN/m. Increasing the temperature from 25 o C to 35° C has shown adverse effects on sophorolipids production.

Background: Back pain is one of the most common problems during postpartum period. The physical and mental changes and demands in postpartum period challenge the quality of life of postnatal mothers. Approximately 70% of women report back pain at some point in their postnatal period. This study aimed to analyze the effect of postnatal exercises and education on functional outcomes of low back pain in early postnatal mothers. Methodology: Experimental group was treated with core stabilization exercises along with education on postural care and back care while control group were on conventional postnatal exercises and education. Follow up sessions were conducted once in two weeks for experimental group and both the groups were followed up by phone calls. Results: There is a significant reduction in disability from baseline (p<0.05*) in the study group and both the group had shown significant reduction in VAS from baseline (p<0.05*). Conclusion: Core stability exercises along with postural care and education will increase the strength of lumbo-pelvic muscles, improve posture, physical activity level, decrease the pain intensity, and improve the functional disability in postpartum period.

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