Lamb Shift in Muonic Hydrogen

The Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen continues to be a subject of experimental and theoretical investigation. Here my older work on the subject is updated to provide a complementary calculation of the energies of the 2p-2s transitions in muonic hydrogen.Comment: 15 pages, no figures. 2 small misprints corrected. Published in Phys. Rev.

Hyperfine Structure of S-States in Muonic Helium Ion

Corrections of orders alpha^5 and alpha^6 are calculated in the hyperfine splittings of 1S and 2S - energy levels in the ion of muonic helium. The electron vacuum polarization effects, the nuclear structure corrections and recoil corrections are taken into account. The obtained numerical values of the hyperfine splittings -1334.56 meV (1S state), -166.62 meV (2S state) can be considered as a reliable estimate for the comparison with the future experimental data. The hyperfine splitting interval Delta_{12}=(8 Delta E^{hfs}(2S)- Delta E^{hfs}(1S)) = 1.64 meV can be used for the check of quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Convex Independence in Permutation Graphs

A set C of vertices of a graph is P_3-convex if every vertex outside C has at most one neighbor in C. The convex hull \sigma(A) of a set A is the smallest P_3-convex set that contains A. A set M is convexly independent if for every vertex x \in M, x \notin \sigma(M-x). We show that the maximal number of vertices that a convexly independent set in a permutation graph can have, can be computed in polynomial time

Diversity of mycorrhizal plant species and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in evergreen forest, deciduous forest and grassland ecosystems of Southern Chile

In the Valdivian rainforest region of the Southern Chilean Andes three main ecosystems are found: Primary evergreen forests, secondary deciduous forests, and grassland areas. The secondary forest and the grasslands are habitually the result of the clearance of the primary forest some 60 years ago. The secondary forest consists mainly of the deciduous tree species Nothofagus alpina; forest management practices such as crown thinning and clearance of the understorey are applied to the secondary forest to improve its economic value. The grasslands are used by extensive cattle grazing. Soils in this region are acid Andosols with high organic matter content, high exchangeable aluminum and low levels of available phosphorus. The main objective of this study was to investigate the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) plant species and of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in these three ecosystems. The highest diversity with 53 plant species was found in the evergreen forest with 77.4% of them AM, while in the grassland 91% of the 22 plant species were AM. The deciduous forest had 11 plant species only and the lowest proportion of AM plant species (55%). Thirty-nine AM fungal species were found in total, of which most are being reported for the first time from Southern Chile. Thirteen fungal species were of the Acaulospora genus, 10 of Glomus, 4 species each of Scutellospora and Archaeospora, 3 species each of Pacispora and Entrophospora, and one species each of Paraglomus and Diversispora. AMF species were more abundant in the grassland (29 spp.) than in the evergreen forest (20 spp.) which is likely related to a higher relative proportion of AM plant species in the grassland. Four AMF species were present in all the ecosystems, and 15 species were apparently quite specific as they were only found in one of the ecosystems. Noteworthy was the lack of Paraglomus and Scutellospora spp. in any of the forest ecosystems, and the relatively higher presence of Entrophospora spores in those ecosystems. It was concluded that the diversity of the AMF species in the ecosystems is strongly influenced by the proportion of AM plant species in each ecosystem and that their diversity is not related to soil chemical properties

Screening Ryegrass Cultivars for Aluminium Sensitivity in Nutrient Soluations

The objective of this study was to evaluate Al and H+ tolerance of nine ryegrass (Lolium perenne and L. multiflorum) cultivars by growing plants in a mineral solution (pH 4.8 and 6.0 and 0-200 (M Al). Results showed that Yatsyn-1, with a relative root length of 91 was the cultivar least affected by acidity (H+), and Concord ( RRLpH = 58) was the cultivar with the highest H+ sensitivity. In connection with Al-tolerance, Yatsyn-1 and Concord, were the most tolerant cultivars with 88 and 87 RRLAl, respectively whereas Nui and Marathon, were the most sensitive ones, reaching only a 66, 60 RRLAl, respectively

Efecto de cultivos hospederos y no hospederos sobre propágulos micorrícicos arbusculares

Recent field studies have shown that fungal spores decrease when non host plants are used as a pre-culture. The objective of this study was to evaluate how host plant like oats (Avena sativa L.), and non host, as lupine (Lupinus albus L.), and rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) can influence on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) propagules diversity and phosphatase activity when growing in an Andisol and an Inceptisol. The trial was conducted from September 2006 through March 2007 in greenhouse conditions using 5 kg pots with in a completely randomized design with four replicates. The number of AMF spores was higher in the Andisol than the Inceptisol and highest when using oats than lupine or raps as plant host. Oats also showed a large enrichment of morphotypes, whereas lupine and raps were poor. The phosphatase activity (P-ase) in Inceptisol was lower than in Andisol and between crops increased in the order oats < rapeseed < lupine; while significant differences between lupines with other crops were registred. Again, our results reinforce the hypothesis that the mycorrhizae and phosphatase activity are complementary mechanisms developed by plants for a better P acquisition.Estudios recientes en campo han demostrado que las esporas fúngicas disminuyen cuando se utilizan como pre-cultivo no hospederos. El objetivo de este trabajo fue estudiar la influencia de un cultivo hospedero, avena (Avena sativa L.) y cultivos no hospederos, como lupino (Lupinus albus L.) y raps (Brassica napus L.) sobre los propágulos de hongos micorrícicos arbusculares (HMA) y diversidad fúngica junto con la actividad fosfatásica en un Andisol serie Temuco e Inceptisol serie Lumaco. El ensayo se realizó en condiciones de invernadero, desde septiembre de 2006 hasta marzo de 2007, utilizándose macetas de 5 kg con un diseño experimental completamente al azar con cuatro repeticiones. El número de esporas HMA fue mayor en el Andisol que en el Inceptisol y mayor cuando se usó avena como planta hospedera que lupino y raps. La avena también mostró una gran riqueza de morfotipos mientras que, en lupino y raps fue baja. La actividad fosfatásica en el Inceptisol fue menor que en el Andisol y entre cultivos aumentó en orden avena < raps < lupino; mientras que, se encontraron diferencias significativas entre lupino con los otros cultivos. Nuevamente, nuestros resultados refuerzan la hipótesis que las micorrizas y actividad fosfatásica son mecanismos complementarios que utiliza la planta para una mejor captación de fósfor

Interacción Rhizobium leguminosarum bv trifolii y hongos micorrícicos en un Andisol con diferentes niveles de saturación de aluminio

Aluminium phytotoxicity is a serious limitation of the productivity of prairies growing on volcanic soil by affecting nodulation and effectiveness of Rhizobium. The aim of this study was to select Rhizobium strains to determine the effect as inoculant on Trifolium repens cropped in an Andisol with different aluminium saturation levels. Acidity tolerance (pH 4.5 and 6.0) of twelve Rhizobium strains of collection at three Al levels (100, 200, 300 μM) was evaluated in mineral nutritive medium vitro. Simultaneously, in a greenhouse trial, strains effectivity were tested by inoculation of Trifolium pratense growing in an acidic Andisol and compared with dry matter accumulation produced by native strains. According to the results of this two trials, three Rhizobium strains (R-109, R-113 and R-115) were selected to study the effect of their inoculation on Trifolium repens growth cropped in an Andisol at four Al saturation levels (SAl1 to SAl4). In addition, the effect on arbuscular mycorrhizal propagules was also studied. Plants showed different capacity for association with the inoculated strains giving the best response R-113 at SAl1 level with positive synergism expressed by microbiological parameters such as high nodulation (16 nodules pot-1), AMF spore number (384 spores 100 g-1), root colonization percentage (45%), together with agronomical variables with an increase of aerial phytomass (93,5%) in comparison with the control. Higher Al levels had an deleterious effect on the inoculation of collection strains; therefore, with R-109 strain inoculation the smallest root growth and nodulation were observed in comparison with soil with native strains whereas R-113 was the more effective one.La fitotoxicidad por Al es una seria limitante de la productividad de praderas crecidas sobre suelos volcánicos afectando la nodulación y efectividad de los Rhizobium. El objetivo del estudio consistió en seleccionar cepas de Rhizobium de colección para estudiar su efectividad en Trifolium repens crecido en un Andisol con cepas nativas y distinta saturación de Al. Para ello se evaluó previamente en caldo nutritivo la tolerancia a la acidez y toxicidad por Al de 12 cepas de colección mediante control de curvas de crecimiento. Paralelamente, se inocularon los Rhizobium en un Andisol para evaluar su efectividad mediante rendimiento de Trifolium pratense. Se seleccionaron las cepas R-109, R-113 y R-115 para inocularlas en el Andisol utilizando cuatro tratamientos: suelo adicionado de 2 Mg CaCO3 ha-1 (SAl1), un testigo (SAl2) y suelo adicionado de dos niveles de saturación Al (SAl1, SAl4) utilizando Trifolium repens como hospedero. Las plantas mostraron capacidad para asociarse con las especies inoculadas presentando mayor efectividad R-113-SAl1 sinergismo positivo expresado en variables microbiológicas como nodulación (16 nódulos maceta-1), esporas de hongos micorrícicos arbusculares, HMA (384 esporas 100g-1), colonización HMA (45%) junto con variables agronómicas alcanzándose un incremento de biomasa foliar (93,5%) frente al testigo. Niveles más elevados de Al afectaron la inoculación con cepas de colección; así, con R-109 se obtuvo el menor crecimiento radical y nodulación respecto al suelo natural mientras que R-113 fue la cepa más efectiva