The Efficacy of Ultramolecular Aqueous Dilutions on a Wheat Germination Model as a Function of Heat and Aging-Time

This study evaluates the effects of temperature and aging on the efficacy of As2O3 at the 45th decimal potency in a wheat germination model, compared against a control and potentized H2O 45×. Each treatment-temperature combination was tested on seeds (Triticum aestivum L.) of Pandas variety, using six Petri dishes (33 seeds/dish) per trial, performing eight trials. Seeds were pre-treated by poisoning with 0.1% As2O3 solution to reduce germination, to allow a better evaluation of homeopathic treatment effects. The outcome variable was the number of non-germinated seeds after 96 h. Temperature effect was investigated by heating each treatment in a water bath for 30 min (at 20, 40 or 70°C), or for 5 min (at 100°C), and that of aging by dividing experimental data, collected over a period of nearly five months, into two groups: early and late experiments. Results seem to show that the efficacy of As2O3 45× is unaltered at 20 and 40°C, increases at 70°C and decreases at 100°C. As regards aging, a notable difference was found between early trials, with no significant efficacy, and late trials, where As2O3 45× exhibits a repeated significant effect versus control, except at 100°C. A reduction in variability was observed for As2O3 45× at 20°C versus control, confirming the findings of previous work. The main conclusion suggested by this experiment is that the efficacy of As2O3 45× on wheat germination may be influenced by heating degree and seems to have an increasing trend as a function of aging

Preliminary Study on Force-Like Effects between As45x, Water, and Wheat Seeds Performed by Means of the Droplet Evaporation Method

Background: The droplet evaporation method (DEM) is based on pattern formation in evaporating droplets. It has been shown that the local connected fractal dimension (LCFD; a complexity measure) of crystalline structures grown in evaporating droplets of wheat seed leakages depended upon whether the seeds were treated with an ultra-high dilution (UHD) or water control.1, 2 In homeopathy it is usually assumed, that UHD's need to come in direct (physical) contact with the organism to be treated to exhibit their action; however, recently, it has been demonstrated on a wheat seed germination model that UHD's may influence organisms also at a distance, i.e. without any physical contact. 3 In this case the UHD's effectiveness decreases with increasing distance. Here we test whether DEM might serve also as a tool to study such force-like influences. In a series of three DEM experiments (E1-3) we studied (i) force-like effects occurring between As2O3 45x treatment (As45x) and undiluted, unsuccussed, ultrapure water (W), (ii) As45x and wheat seeds, as also (iii) whether force-like effects may be shielded by means of aluminum foil, commonly applied for such purposes in homeopathic research

Self-Organized Crystallization Patterns from Evaporating Droplets of Common Wheat Grain Leakages as a Potential Tool for Quality Analysis

We studied the evaporation-induced pattern formation in droplets of common wheat kernel leakages prepared out of ancient and modern wheat cultivars as a possible tool for wheat quality analysis. The experiments showed that the substances which passed into the water during the soaking of the kernels created crystalline structures with different degrees of complexity while the droplets were evaporating. The forms ranged from spots and simple structures with single ramifications, through dendrites, up to highly organized hexagonal shapes and fractal-like structures. The patterns were observed and photographed using dark field microscopy in small magnifications. The evaluation of the patterns was performed both visually and by means of the fractal dimension analysis. From the results, it can be inferred that the wheat cultivars differed in their pattern-forming capacities. Two of the analyzed wheat cultivars showed poor pattern formation, whereas another two created well-formed and complex patterns. Additionally, the wheat cultivars were analyzed for their vigor by means of the germination test and measurement of the electrical conductivity of the grain leakages. The results showed that the more vigorous cultivars also created more complex patterns, whereas the weaker cultivars created predominantly poor forms. This observation suggests a correlation between the wheat seed quality and droplet evaporation patterns

Spatial allocation effects within a potentization basic research model – evidence for field-like effects of homeopathic preparations?

Background: The mode of action of ultramolecular homeopathic preparations is still unknown. Interactions between objects or entities can be grouped in four main general scientific categories: material, force-/field-like, entanglement-like or informational. Should homeopathic preparations have a field-like mode of action, there is greater probability of cross-contamination as long as the means to "shield" objects from each other is unknown. A field-like interaction would also lead to treatment at a distance effects that are distance-dependent. Aims: We analysed a set of experiments with Arsenicum album 45x treated wheat seedlings regarding a possible distance-dependent cross-contamination. Materials and Methods: We performed an a posteriori analysis of a set of 17 independent experiments [1,2] with wheat seedlings pre-treated with 1‰ arsenic. Three treatments were applied (Arsenicum album 45x, water 45x, or unpotentized water) with 150 seedlings in each treatment group per experiment. Seedlings were arranged in hanging plastic bags side-by-side in identically treated blocks of 10 seedlings. The 3x15 blocks were coded and randomly allocated to the three treatments. Wheat shoot length was measured after 7 days. Treatment effects were analysed as function of the position (1–10) within the blocks of 10 seedlings. Results: Analyzing all data, Arsenicum album 45x exerted an inhibiting effect (–3.2%, p=0.01) compared to both water and water 45x. When restricting the analysis to the outermost seedlings of all subgroups (pos. 1, 10), the treatment effect vanished (0.3%, p=0.92). In contrast, the innermost seedlings of all subgroups (pos. 5, 6) showed a treatment effect of –5.6% (p=0.02). Intermediate pairs of positions (pos. 2–4, 7–9) showed intermediate effects. Regarding shoot length, dependency on spatial position was observed for the plants of the water control groups, but not for the plants treated with Arsenicum album 45x. Conclusions: Whilst the effect of Arsenicum album 45x on wheat-shoot growth was not dependent on the spatial position within the subgroup, the water-control plants became smaller the closer they were to Arsenicum album 45x-treated seedlings. This observation is compatible with the existence of a field-like effect of homeopathic dilutions. Another possible explanation that cannot be ruled out by the present experiments, is contamination through the gas-phase. Future investigations of ultramolecular homeopathic preparations should control any such effects since they may mask treatment effects, leading to false-negative results. Closer investigation of the nature of this distance-dependent effect might contribute to identification of the mode of action of ultramolecular homeopathic preparations

ultra high diluted arsenic reduces spore germination of alternaria brassicicola and dark leaf spot in cauliflower

ABSTRACT A major problem in cauliflower crop is the fungus Alternaria brassicicola, which causes dark leaf spot on Brassicaceae family. The current use of copper salts in agriculture is questioned. In fact, these products present some disadvantages, connected mainly with their deposits in the soil and toxicity on plants. This work investigated the effects of arsenic treatments, in ultra high diluted form (UHD), prepared by a process of repeated dilution and succussion (shaking), through: 1) in vitro germination experiments, where spores of A. brassicicola were suspended in the treatments; 2) in planta experiments and 3) a field trial, where cauliflower plants infected by the fungus were sprayed with treatments. The results showed that ultra high dilutions of arsenic (where no more molecules of this substance are present) were effective in all the experiments, inhibiting spore germination by 60.0%, controlling fungal disease in in planta experiments (relative efficacy of 42.1%), and, in field trial, decreasing the mean infection level in cauliflower heads by 45.7% and 41.6% in artificially inoculated and naturally infected plants, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate that ultra high dilutions effectively reduce in vitro spore germination and infection of A. brassicicola in cauliflower plants, both under controlled conditions and in the field. Our research is still very experimental, however, in light of the significant results obtained with ultra-diluted arsenic, and given that its extreme high dilution level precludes any toxicity or accumulation in the environment, the use of UHDs could be considered a potential and reliable approach for sustainable agriculture

Ultra high diluted arsenic reduces spore germination of Alternaria brassicicola and dark leaf spot in cauliflower

ABSTRACT A major problem in cauliflower crop is the fungus Alternaria brassicicola, which causes dark leaf spot on Brassicaceae family. The current use of copper salts in agriculture is questioned. In fact, these products present some disadvantages, connected mainly with their deposits in the soil and toxicity on plants. This work investigated the effects of arsenic treatments, in ultra high diluted form (UHD), prepared by a process of repeated dilution and succussion (shaking), through: 1) in vitro germination experiments, where spores of A. brassicicola were suspended in the treatments; 2) in planta experiments and 3) a field trial, where cauliflower plants infected by the fungus were sprayed with treatments. The results showed that ultra high dilutions of arsenic (where no more molecules of this substance are present) were effective in all the experiments, inhibiting spore germination by 60.0%, controlling fungal disease in in planta experiments (relative efficacy of 42.1%), and, in field trial, decreasing the mean infection level in cauliflower heads by 45.7% and 41.6% in artificially inoculated and naturally infected plants, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate that ultra high dilutions effectively reduce in vitro spore germination and infection of A. brassicicola in cauliflower plants, both under controlled conditions and in the field. Our research is still very experimental, however, in light of the significant results obtained with ultra-diluted arsenic, and given that its extreme high dilution level precludes any toxicity or accumulation in the environment, the use of UHDs could be considered a potential and reliable approach for sustainable agriculture

Statistical tools for alternative research in plant experiments

In this paper we describe the set of statistical tools applied for evaluating a series of experiments concerning the effects of homeopathic treatments in simple plant models, involving wheat seeds and seedlings and tobacco plants. The homeopathic treatment used in our experiments is arsenic trioxide, diluted in a decimal scale and dynamized k times (with k varying from 5 to 45). Since the most significant results have been achieved with As 45dH (45-th decimal potency of As2O3), we report a brief summary of these results. The statistical analysis was performed by using parametric and non parametric tests, and Poisson distribution has an essential role when dealing with germination experiments. Finally, we describe some interesting results related to the changes in variability, which seems to be a primary target of homeopathic treatment effect

Analisi esplorativa dell'effetto di soluzioni ultramolecolari di triossido di arsenico sullo sviluppo vegetativo in vitro di plantule di grano

This paper deals with an experiment in which wheat seeds were stressed with a material dose of As2 O3, and then treated with ultra-molecolar dilutions of the same substance, with and without potentization. We focused our analysis on seedling stem length during 7 days of treatment, and tried to give a thorough statistical description of the data. We applied simple nonparametric tests for comparing treated and control groups: it seems to be a significant stimulating effect when seeds are treated with the 45th decimal potency of As2 O3 . A similar effect was obtained in a previous experiment (Betti et al., 1997), and shows that our model allows a proper reproducibility of results

Basic research in homeopathy and ultra-high dilutions: what progress is being made?

This report summarises the latest research developments in the field of high dilutions and homeopathy, as presented at the GIRI symposium of the leading international organisation of scientists in this field, in Florence, Italy in September 2012. The scientific community's early scepticism concerning the possible biological and pharmacological activity of highly diluted solutions, is\ua0giving way to a more open-minded attitude that no longer obstructs critical and experimental\ua0investigations in this emerging field of biomedicine