Alleviative effects of Fara-darmani Consciousness Field on Triticum aestivum L. under salinity stress

Background: The Fara-darmani Consciousness Field was founded by Mohammad Ali Taheri. It is a novel field and is described similarly to the field of gravity, or the electromagnetic field. This field is neither matter nor energy, and therefore does not possess a quantity. Even though there is no direct scientific evidence for the Consciousness Field, it is possible to investigate its effects on objects through controlled experiments. The aim of the present work was to study the alleviative effects of the Fara-darmani Consciousness Field on common wheat Triticum aestivum L. var Star under salt stress. Methods: Plants were grown under 0 mM NaCl (control) and 150 mM NaCl with or without the influence of Fara-darmani Consciousness Field for 3 weeks. Chlorophyll, hydrogen peroxide (H 2O 2), malondialdehyde (MDA) content and activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD),polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and peroxidase (POX) were measured in all groups of plants. Results: In the salt-treated plants under the influence of the Fara-darmani Consciousness Field, the contents of total chlorophyll, as well as a and b chlorophyll forms, were elevated compared with the salt-treated plants without Fara-darmani CF (34.8%, 17.8%, and 169% respectively). Additionally, Fara-darmani increased H 2O 2 (57%) and the activity of SOD and PPO by 220% and 168%, respectively, under salinity compared with the salt-treated plants without Fara-darmani CF. MDA content and activity of peroxidase were decreased by 12.5% and 34%, respectively. Conclusion: These results suggest the Fara-darmani Consciousness Field as a qualitative intervention strategy to withstand salt stress in plants, by increasing the contents of chlorophyll, antioxidant enzyme activities, and decreasing MDA content under salinity.


Introduction
Most criticism about complementary therapy is the lack of scientific research. In order to be accepted, academic studies using different study designs are necessary. Since one of the critical objections occurring when human beings are treated with complementary therapy is the placebo responses, biochemical plant-based studies can be a suitable method to clarify the phenomenon (Betti et al., 2003). Among the different plant model systems, the wheat plant has been repeatedly selected for homeopathy research Baumgartner et al. (2000) showed that homeopathic drugs improved plant resistance, which exerted their effect through detoxification processes.
In arid and semi-arid areas of the world, salinity is considered as a major factor in reducing crop productivity (Poonia et al., 1972). Plant growth is adversely affected by multiple environmental stresses, including biotic (e.g. fungi, bacteria, viruses, herbivores) and abiotic (e.g. low temperature, salt, drought, heavy metal toxicity). Among these the salination of arable land is one of the key factors that threatens the sustainability of the agricultural industry. Thus, many studies have attempted to explore processes that contribute to plant survival under salt stress (Ashraf & Harris, 2004) as a strategy to improve productivity and fertility. It is well documented that plants that are exposed to biotic or abiotic stresses have biochemical changes that exert oxidative damage through Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) (Smirnoff, 1993 Fara-darmani is one of the many Consciousness Field (CFs) founded by Mohammad Ali Taheri. In this theoretical concept, cosmic consciousness is the collection of consciousness, wisdom or intelligence governing the world of existence, which is also called 'Awareness'. Consciousness, according to Taheri, is one of the three existing elements of the universe apart from matter and energy. By defining Consciousness as neither matter nor energy, we cannot associate a quantity to it. Since consciousness isn't measurable, its existence can only be known through experience (Taheri, 2013). According to this theory, any living creature, including animals and plants, may be cured via humans by connecting to internet-like facilities called the Cosmic Consciousness Network (CCN). In this type of affection, mind-matter interaction occurs through connecting to the CCN by a Fara-therapist. Fara-darmani establishes a consciousness bond between the 'whole' consciousness and the 'parts' where all constituents will be scanned and corrected (Taheri, 2013). Although the mechanism of this linkage is not yet definable by science, its consequences can be measured and studied scientifically.
The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Fara-darmani CF on alleviating the effects of salt stress in a spring wheat variety (Star).

Fara-darmani Consciousness Field application
In Fara-darmani, subjects of study become connected to that Consciousness Field via Fara-therapist by 'announcement' which is a process in which Taheri or any Fara-therapist (announcer) declares and sends the information of the subjects under study (e.g. the number of groups) to the CCN. The influence of Consciousness Field begins with the connection between the human mind and the CCN. In other words, the Fara-therapist's mind acts as an intermediary between the subject of the study and the CCN. The first author of this study is an announcer and at the same time as the seedlings were subjected to salt stress, two groups of treatments became connected to the CCN (group 2: 0 mM NaCl and group 4: 150 mM NaCl). This exposure occurs without any kind of physical intervention, since consciousness according to Taheri's

Amendments from Version 1
In this new version, we improved the discussion section with more references.
Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article REVISED concepts is neither matter nor energy, receiving this treatment is possible from close and far distances.
This experiment can easily be repeated by any researcher even from far distances by registering on the COSMOintel website (the Assign Announcement section) COSMOintel is a research center, under the supervision of the innovator of the method (Mohammad Ali Taheri) that has been established to design and implement repeatable and reproducible studies in the world of science 1 .

Plants
In this research, we used a spring wheat variety Triticum aestivum L. var Star (Seed and Plants Improvement Institute, Karaj, Alborz Province). Seeds were surface sterilized with 2.5% sodium hypochlorite for 10 min and washed thoroughly with sterile distilled water. After sterilization, seeds were soaked in distilled water for 24 hours at room temperature. For each treatment three pots were prepared and six seeds were initially sown in plastic pots (10 × 10 cm) containing perlite soil. After the germination they were thinned to five plants per pot. First, all pots were irrigated daily with 100ml distilled water for four days. Then received 100ml half-strength Hoagland's nutrient solution (pH= 5.7) (Hoagland & Arnon, 1950) every other day for another 12 days (chemicals purchased from Sigma-Aldrich).

Applying salinity stress
The sixteen-day-old seedlings were treated with salinity. The salts were added to the nutrient solution. To prevent osmotic shock, salt stress was started gradually on 50 mM NaCl (100ml). Every other day the concentration was increased by 50mM until 150 mM was attained. Salt stress was continued for three weeks (150mM NaCl was added every other day). Initial Fara-darmani connection treatment occurred at the same time as adding the first NaCl solution. Four treatment groups (n=3 pots/group) were performed as follows: group 1, control -grown with no NaCl and did not receive Fara-darmani CF; group 2 -grown with no NaCl and did receive Fara-darmani CF; group 3 -treated with 150 mM NaCl for three weeks and did not receive Fara-darmani CF treatment; group 4 -treated with 150 mM NaCl for three weeks and did receive Fara-darmani CF treatment.
After three weeks, four fully expanded leaves were picked per replicate for future analyses. They were frozen in liquid N 2 and transferred to -20°C for imminent bench experiments.

Determination of chlorophyll content
For measuring photosynthetic pigments, we used the method by Arnon (1949). 0.5 gram of fresh leaf material placed in acetone 80% and homogenized to extract chlorophyll. The resulting solution was filtered through Whatman's No.1 filter paper. After extracting of photosynthetic pigments in acetone 80%, absorbance of chlorophyll a and b was recorded by UV-visible spectrophotometer (Shimadzu UV-160) at 645 and 663 nm respectively. According to Arnon (1949) chlorophyll concentrations were calculated using the formulas below: Chl . One gram of leaf tissue was homogenized on ice with 5 ml of trichloroacetic acid (TCA; Sigma-Aldrich) 0.1% (w/v) and centrifuged at 12000 rpm for 15 min. Subsequently, 0.5 ml of 10 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7) and 1 ml of 1M potassium iodide was added to 0.5 ml of supernatant. The absorbance of supernatant was determined at 390 nm wavelength.

Determination of lipid peroxidation
Malondialdehyde (MDA), which is a product of lipid peroxidation, has been considered as an indicator of membrane destruction. MDA content was determined according to Stewart & Bewley (1980). We added 5 ml of TCA to 0.2 g of fresh leaf. After homogenization, the solution was centrifuged at 13000 × g for 10 min. The mixture of 1 ml of supernatant with 4 ml of 0.5% thiobarbituric acid in 20% TCA was heated for 30 min at 95°C and quickly placed in an ice bucket. Subsequently, we centrifuged the solution at 10000 × g for 10 minutes and recorded the absorbance of supernatant at 532 and 600 nm. The calculation of MDA was done from the extinction coefficient of 155 mM -1 cm -1 .

Determination of enzymes activity
To determine enzyme activity, 0.1 g of fresh third leaves were ground in 3 ml of 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 6.8) at 4°C. The homogenate was centrifuged at 13000 × g for 20 min at 4°C. The supernatants were then collected and stored at -70°C for determination of enzymes activity.
SOD activity was determined using the assay system described by Giannopolitis & Ries (1977). The reaction mixture consisted of 50 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.5, 13 mM methionine, 0.1 mM Na-EDTA, 75µM NBT, 75 µM Riboflavin and 100 µL of enzyme extract in a final volume of 3 ml (all the 1 Gaining an announcement: users must register on the COSMOintel Website (free). Once registered, go to the researcher section and fill out the form (the required information is listed below). In order to study at any given time and place, the researchers simply need to introduce the testing center to the guidance center. This means that the exact time of start and finish of the test, the total duration of the test, the number of samples and controls and their contractual name must be specified. It should be noted that registration on the site and also requesting and gaining an announcement is free. We recommend that you contact our center for the definition and selection of the relevant sample in order to obtain a clear and repeatable results (email: researchers@cosmointel.com).

Statistical analysis
Each experiment was repeated three times. Data were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance one-way (ANOVA) with SPSS software (version 18). Means were compared by Duncan's test at the 0.05 level of confidence.

Results
Salinity decreased the contents of chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl b and total Chl (Figure 1a-c). Under the influence of Fara-darmani CF with 150 mM NaCl, the contents of total Chl, Chl a and Chl b were elevated (34.8%, 17.8% and 169%, respectively) compared to the plants treated with 150mM without Fara-darmani CF.
The effect of NaCl treatment on H 2 O 2 is shown in (Figure 1d). Results of the present study showed that H 2 O 2 content remained unchanged under salinity condition whereas for the Fara-darmani CF treated groups (control and 150mM NaCl) showed significant enhancement 100% and 57.1%, respectively.
MDA content was assessed as an oxidative indicator. Salinity stress caused an increase of 59.5% in MDA content as compared to that of control. The Fara-darmani CF treatment to the salt-stressed plant decreased MDA content by about 12.5% (Figure 2d).
POX activity was significantly increased by NaCl treatment up to 244 % compared with control while under salinity treatment exposure to Fara-darmani CF decreased the activity of enzyme by 34 % (Figure 2b).
SOD activity was slightly increased under salinity. However, it was found that with Fara-darmani CF the activity of SOD in salinity condition was about 220 % higher than that in salinity without Fara-darmani CF treatment (Figure 2c) Similarly, PPO activity was not significantly higher than nonsaline condition (control). However, the PPO activity showed an increase of 168% under salinity in response to Fara-darmani CF compared to the salinity treated without Fara-darmani CF treatment (Figure 2a).

Discussion
In this study, chlorophyll a and b, and total chlorophyll contents decreased remarkably under salinity conditions  From these results, it can be concluded that Fara-darmani CF minimizes the negative effects of salt stress in the wheat plant with evidence of increased activity of antioxidant enzymes, increased chlorophyll content and less membrane damage. The main challenge of this study is the fact that Consciousness Field doesn't possess a quantity and isn't directly measurable. Therefore, in order to identify its specific effects, we have measured Fara-darmani CF effects indirectly on a plant's biochemical processes. We suggest that other researchers repeat similar experiment with different plants. It seems that botanical bioassays are suitable for screening the effect of such treatments, and apart from the placebo responses by humans, these assays can be beneficial to save time and resources. This project contains the following underlying data:

Data availability
• Raw data of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, hydrogen peroxide, MDA, POX, PPO, SOD, and total chlorophyll content in control and salinity conditions with and without receiving Fara-darmani consciousness field (separate .tab files).
• Charts of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, hydrogen peroxide, MDA, POX, PPO, SOD, and total chlorophyll content in control and salinity condition with and without receiving Fara-darmani consciousness field (separate .docx files).
Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication).

Open Peer Review
Why did the authors select just 0 and 150 mM Nacl for this research?
The intensity or wavelength are not clear, and isn't the device regulates for intensity or wave?
How Fara-darmani Consciousness Field affect the cell, how is perceived by the cell, what is the effect on organisms? The discussion needs to improve.
If there isn't any research about Fara-darmani Consciousness Field, the author can use some article for the discussion: consciousness is one of the three existing elements of the universe apart from matter and energy. By defining consciousness as neither matter nor energy we cannot associate a quantity to it. Therefore, we cannot register it by any device and must be mediated by human mind.
How Fara-darmani Consciousness Field affect the cell, how is perceived by the cell, what is the effect on organisms? The discussion needs to improve.
As stated in the last paragraph, the main challenge of this study is the fact that Consciousness Field doesn't possess a quantity and isn't directly measurable. Therefore, in order to identify its specific effects, we have measured Fara-darmani CF effects indirectly on a plant's biochemical processes. At this point, more biochemical and histological studies can collaborate to clarify this phenomenon. In addition, more explanation was added in the discussion section (paragraph 2).
If there isn't any research about Fara-darmani Consciousness Field, the author can use some article for the discussion: Thank you for this suggestion. We have put a significant effort in improving the discussion section and these two references were added to the paragraph 1 and 2. In addition, we improved the discussion with more references. When Madam Curie proposed that Radium was an element and theorized that radiation was an atomic property and not caused by molecular interactions, her work and theories were initially met with skepticism by some of the leading scientists of the time. "Some scientists, including the grand old man of English science, Kelvin, never embraced radium as a new element. The idea that one element could be transformed into another smacked of alchemy, he and several others believed. 1 " However, from Curie's publications and in the years that followed, others were able to duplicate her work, confirm her theories, and build a greater understanding of atomic physics and radioactive elements.
As academic researchers and scientists dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, we must welcome and look forward to theories and hypotheses that challenge our established notions and practices which in many respects have not been sufficient to unlock the great mysteries we continue to grapple with.
From the prospect of a "Unified Theory" that to this day has eluded the greatest minds in science, to the mystery of the cosmos 95% of which still remains unidentified, and from the phenomenon of "consciousness" we all experience without exception but none yet understand, to our plight against a deadly pervasive virus that medicine and science seem to be ill-equipped to contain, we face an insurmountable volume of unknown that far exceeds the knowledge humankind has amassed through all of its scientific endeavors. Thus, we need theories, ideas, and empirical studies that offer the slightest hope for alternative possibilities we so desperately seek.
Goethe, the German poet, scientist, and scholar famously (and fittingly) said: "In the sciences, people quickly come to regard as their own personal property that which they have learned and had passed on to them at the universities and academies. If someone else comes along with new ideas that contradict the Credo and in fact even threaten to overturn it, then all passions are raised against this threat and no method is left untried to suppress it. People resist it in every way possible: pretending not to have heard about it; speaking disparagingly of it, as if it were not even worth the effort of looking into the matter. And so, a new truth can have a long wait before finally being accepted." It would be disappointing and retrogressive if the scientific community has maintained the same attitude it held 200 years ago when such sentiments were expressed.
The efforts and courage of theorists and researchers like those presenting the current study are applaudable and appreciated as they clearly show their commitment to science and new knowledge takes precedence over potential criticism or disapproval they might face by their colleagues and the academic community.
Any criticism prior to attempting to duplicate the work is meaningless and unconstructive. We must keep an open mind if we are not to hold back humanity or sabotage or delay the scientific progress we seek. And we must remain civil in discussing the work of others until we have collected data to support our criticism. Let's all work together to expand human knowledge and help elevate humanity and move us forward in our quest for a better world and a greater understanding of our universe.

Version 1
can't wait to see the results.