Alice Branton, Dahryn Trivedi, Gopal Nayak, Ragini Singh, Snehasis Jana

Para-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB) is widely used as a chemical intermediate in manufacturing of dyes, pharmaceuticals, polymers and other organic synthesis. The aim of present study was to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on physical, thermal, and spectroscopic properties of p-dichlorobenzene. The p-dichlorobenzene sample was divided into two groups that served as treated and control. The treated group received Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment. Subsequently the control and treated samples were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. XRD result showed an increase in crystallite size (4.93%) along with alteration in peak intensity of treated sample as compared to control. Furthermore, DSC analysis results showed that the latent heat of fusion of treated p-dichlorobenzene was considerably reduced by 8.66% as compared to control. The reduction in melting point of treated sample (54.99°C) was also observed as compared to control (57.01°C) p-dichlorobenzene. Moreover, TGA/DTG studies showed that Tmax (temperature, at which sample lost maximum of its weight) was increased by 6.26% and weight loss per degree celsius (°C) was decreased by 12.77% in biofield treated p-dichlorobenzene as compared to control sample. It indicates that thermal stability of treated p-dichlorobenzene sample might increase as compared to control sample. However, no change was found in UV-Vis spectroscopic character of treated p-dichlorobenzene as compared to control. These findings suggest that biofield treatment has significantly altered the physical and thermal properties of p-dichlorobenzene, which could make it more useful as a chemical intermediate.

Shrikant Patil, Harish Shettigar, Khemraj Bairwa, Snehasis Jana

Providencia rettgeri (P. rettgeri) is a clinically significant Gram-negative bacterium of genus Providencia, and commonly associated with hospital-acquired infection like urinary tract infection (UTI), gastroenteritis, and ocular infections. Present study was designed to evaluate the effect of biofield treatment on P. rettgeri against antimicrobial susceptibility, biochemical reaction pattern, biotype number, and 16S rDNA sequence. The samples of P. rettgeri (ATCC 9250) were divided into three groups: Gr.I (control), Gr.II (treatment, revived), and Gr.III (treatment, lyophilized). The Gr.II and III were treated with Mr. Trivedi’s biofield, and then subsequently characterized for antimicrobial susceptibility, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), biochemical reactions, and biotype numbering. The 16S rDNA sequencing was carried out to correlate the phylogenetic relationship of P. rettgeri with other bacterial species. The treated cells of P. rettgeri showed an alteration in susceptibility of about 50% and 53.3% tested antimicrobials of Gr.II on day 5 and 10, respectively; and 53.3% of tested antimicrobials of Gr.III on day 10. MIC results showed a significant decrease in MIC values of 53.1, 56.3, and 56.3% antimicrobials in Gr.II on day 5, Gr.II on day 10, and Gr.III on day 10, respectively, as compared to control. The significant changes in biochemical reactions and biotype numbers were also observed in all the treated groups of P. rettgeri. Based on nucleotides homology and phylogenetic analysis the P. rettgeri was found to be Proteus mirabilis (GenBank Accession Number: AY820623) and nearest homolog species was found to be Proteus vulgaris (Accession No. DQ499636). These findings suggest that biofield treatment can prevent the emergence of absolute resistance of existing antimicrobials to P. rettgeri.

Alice Branton, Dahryn Trivedi, Gopal Nayak, Harish Shettigar, Sambhu Charan Mondal, Snehasis Jana

Enteric fever is a major global problem. Emergence of antimicrobial resistance threatens to render current treatments ineffective. The current study was attempted to investigate the effect of biofield treatment on Salmonella paratyphi A (S. paratyphi A) in terms of antimicrobial susceptibility assay, biochemical characteristics and biotyping. S. paratyphi A strain were procured from MicroBioLogics in sealed packs bearing the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 9150). The study was conducted in revived and lyophilized state of S. paratyphi A. Both revived (Group; Gr. II) and lyophilized (Gr. III) strain of S. paratyphi A were subjected to Mr. Trivedi’s biofield treatment. Revived treated cells was assessed on day 5 and day 10, while lyophilized treated cells assessed on day 10 after biofield treatment with respect to control (Gr. I). The antimicrobial susceptibility of S. paratyphi A showed significant (60%) alteration in revived treated cells (Gr. II) on day 10 as compared to control. The MIC values of S. paratyphi A also showed significant (53.12%) alteration in Gr. II and on day 10 while, no alteration was found in Gr. on day 5 as compared to control. It was observed that overall 18.18% biochemical reactions were altered in the treated groups with respect to control. Moreover, biotype numbers were substantially changed in Gr. II, on day 5 (53001040, S. paratyphi A), on day 10 (57101050, Citrobacter freundii complex) as compared to control (53001000, S. paratyphi A). Besides, biotype number was also changed in Gr. III (53001040, S. paratyphi A) as compared to control. The overall result suggested that biofield treatment had significant impact on S. paratyphi A in Gr. II on day 10 with respect to antimicrobial susceptibility, MIC values and biotype number.

Shrikant Patil, Harish Shettigar, Khemraj Bairwa, Snehasis Jana

Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) is Gram-negative bacterium, associated with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), especially urinary tract and wound infections. The present study was aimed to evaluate the impact of biofield treatment on phenotyping and genotyping characteristics such as antimicrobial susceptibility, biochemical reactions, biotype, DNA polymorphism, and phylogenetic relationship of S. marcescens (ATCC 13880). The lyophilized cells of S. marcescens were divided into three groups (G1, G2, and G3). Control group (G1) and treated groups (G2 and G3) of S. Marcescens cells assessed with respect to antimicrobial susceptibility, and biochemical reactions. In addition to that, samples from different groups of S. marcescens were evaluated for DNA polymorphism by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and 16S rDNA sequencing in order to establish the phylogenetic relationship of S. marcescens with different bacterial species. The treated cells of S. marcescens showed an alteration of 10.34% and 34.48% antimicrobials in G2 and G3 on 10th day, respectively as compared to control. The significant changes of biochemical reactions were also observed in treated groups of S. marcescens. The RAPD data showed an average range of 16-49.2% of polymorphism in treated samples as compared to control. Based on nucleotide homology sequences and phylogenetic analysis, the nearest homolog genus-species was found to be Pseudomonas fluorescence. These findings suggest that biofield treatment can prevent the emergence of absolute resistance to the useful antimicrobials against S. Marcescens.