Cassava mosaic disease and its management in Southeast Asia.

KEY MESSAGE: Status of the current outbreak of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in Southeast Asia was reviewed. Healthy cassava seed production and dissemination systems have been established in Vietnam and Cambodia, along with integrated disease and pest management systems, to combat the outbreak. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the most important edible crops in tropical and subtropical regions. Recently, invasive insect pests and diseases have resulted in serious losses to cassava in Southeast Asia. In this review we discuss the current outbreak of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by the Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) in Southeast Asia, and summarize similarities between SLCMV and other cassava mosaic begomoviruses. A SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) project "Development and dissemination of sustainable production systems based on invasive pest management of cassava in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand", was launched in 2016, which has been funded by The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Japan. The objectives of SATREPS were to establish healthy seed production and dissemination systems for cassava in south Vietnam and Cambodia, and to develop management systems for plant diseases and insect pests of cassava. To achieve these goals, model systems of healthy seed production in Vietnam and Cambodia have been developed incorporating CMD-resistant planting materials through international networks with The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Verification of physical parameters of insity p-type HPGe detector by scan method using collimated low energy photon beam and MNCP simulation.

In this work, the physical dimensions and the actual position of germanium crystal within a detector housing, the homogeneity of the crystal surface and outer dead layer thickness for a p-type HPGe detector were confirmed by the scan method using the collimated low energy photon beams combined with Monte Carlo simulation. The length and the diameter of the crystal were found to match with the values supplied by the manufacturer in discrepancy of about 3%. Only one mounting strap (Typical) for holding the crystal inside the mounting cup instead of two which is indicated in the detector drawing supplied by manufacturer was revealed by scanning along the lateral face of detector. Scanning on the front surface and around the lateral face of detector by the collimated 59.5 keV photon beam verified the outer dead layer thicknesses at the front surface and lateral face of the crystal averagely increases about 6.5% and 12% respectively. Adjusting the detector parameters for MCNP simulation by these verified values, the simulated peak efficiencies for different photon energies become being in accordance with the experimental peak efficiencies.

A semi-empirical approach to analyze the activities of cylindrical radioactive samples using gamma energies from 185 to 1764 keV.

This work suggests a method for determining the activities of cylindrical radioactive samples. The self-attenuation factor was applied for providing the self-absorption correction of gamma rays in the sample material. The experimental measurement of a (238)U reference sample and the calculation using the MCNP5 code allow obtaining the semi-empirical formulae of detecting efficiencies for the gamma energies ranged from 185 to 1764keV. These formulae were used to determine the activities of the (238)U, (226)Ra, (232)Th, (137)Cs and (40)K nuclides in the IAEA RGU-1, IAEA-434, IAEA RGTh-1, IAEA-152 and IAEA RGK-1 radioactive standards. The coincidence summing corrections for gamma rays in the (238)U and (232)Th series were applied. The activities obtained in this work were in good agreement with the reference values.

Self-absorption correction in determining the 238U activity of soil samples via 63.3 keV gamma ray using MCNP5 code.

The essential issue in analyzing the activity of (238)U in an HPGe detector based gamma spectrometer via 63.3 keV line is relating to the strong self-absorption of this weak gamma ray in sample material. The present work suggests a method of the self-absorption corrections for 63.3 keV gamma rays by a combination of experimental measurements and Monte Carlo MCNP5 calculations. The effects of sample chemical composition, density and geometry were calculated in terms of self-attenuation factors. The method, developed for a cylindrical sample geometry, accounted for variable sample heights and densities. The analysis of (238)U activity was applied for three main soil types in Vietnam, which are grey, alluvial and red soils. The results obtained with the above outlined method were in good agreement with those derived by other methods.

A study for improving detection efficiency of an HPGe detector based gamma spectrometer using Monte Carlo simulation and genetic algorithms.

This work aims at improving the detection efficiency of an HPGe detector based gamma spectrometer for measurements of environmental radioactivity sample. Application of a simple genetic algorithm and the Monte Carlo simulation computer code MCNP5 allows to search for optimal dimensions of the Marinelli beaker typed source geometry that maximizes the detector efficiency for a fixed configuration of the gamma spectrometer. The interested gamma energies are in the range of 255-1926 keV. Optimization calculation was repeated several times to deduce average dimensions of an optimal Marinelli beaker typed sample with a volume of 450 cm(3). Effects of gamma energy, sample chemical composition and sample density on the optimal dimensions were also investigated. Calculated results showed that the effects were negligible. A validated experiment with arrangements using an optimal beaker and three other ones was carried out to verify calculated results. It is shown that experimental and calculated results of the detector efficiency are in a good agreement.