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Objective: To investigate the comparison between rectovaginal examination (RVT), transvaginal ultrasonography (TVUS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as diagnostic tools for identifying various Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis (DIE). Methods: Prospective longitudinal study was done involving 31 women referred for surgical management of DIE. Calculation of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of RVT, TVUS and MRI for DIE were recorded. Results: The mean age was 35.1 years. DIE were present in 95.45% of women which commonly located at uterosacral ligaments (58.33%), followed by rectovaginal (16,67%), rectosigmoid- colon (16.67%) and bladder-ureter (8.3%). TVUS had the best accuracy (RVT 50.24%; TVUS 88.85%; MRI 75.77%) among other diagnostic tools for nodules located at uterosacral ligaments (RVT 52.63%; TVUS 87%; MRI 40%) and rectovaginal (RVT 76.75%; TVUS 93.34%; MRI 80%), but it poorly identified nodules located at rectosigmoid (RVT 20%; TVUS 65.56%; MRI 88.75%) and bladder-ureteral area (RVT 50.44%; TVUS 87.66%; MRI 93.55%). RVT had good PPV (88.89%) but bad NPV (32.01%) profile, made it worth to be a screening diagnostic tool. Conclusion: RVT was a good screening diagnostic tools as it could be done easily but was weak in diagnosing anterior DIE. TVUS gave a better diagnosis rates on DIE located at sacrouterina ligaments and rectovaginal area whereas MRI did better on bowel DIE (rectosigmoid- colon area) and urological DIE (bladder-ureteral area). Keywords: deep infiltrating endometriosis, magnetic resonance imaging, tranvaginal ultrasonography

The vast maritime territory of Indonesia, rich in natural resources, has attracted interest from various parties, both domestic and international, to exploit its potential, even if it means violating established regulations at the national and international levels. One of the maritime areas facing complex challenges, considering the numerous legal violations and threats to the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), is the North Natuna Sea. The objective of this research is to analyze the operational patterns and preparations patterns of the Indonesian Navy Vessels (KRI) for deterrence strategies in supporting the national defense system. This study employs a qualitative method, utilizing interviews as a research instrument, supported by literature reviews, including books and other written references related to the research object. The results of this research indicate that the deterrence strategy has not been optimally implemented. This is due to various encountered challenges in the efforts made, highlighting the need for evaluation and improvement of both operational and preparedness patterns of KRI. This is essential to ensure that the deterrence strategy in the North Natuna Sea region, supporting the national defense system, can be carried out effectively and efficiently.

In general, neutron diffraction allows a non-destructive investigation of bulk samples. In this study, a magneto-strain analysis of the trapped field in YB2Cu3Oy 'YBCO' superconducting bulks was carried out at 45 K using neutron diffraction time-of-flight (TOF) method. The TAKUMI TOF neutron diffractometer offers unique advantages, including accommodation of large objectives, control of the experimental set-up using a 4-axial goniometer (XYZθ), and a positional resolution of 0.01 mm allowing an accurate sample positioning. As a result, the lattice strain in the YB2Cu3Oy material could be estimated in both radial and hoop directions by estimating the difference of plane spacing with/without the trapped magnetic field. The results indicate that the samples with a low trapped field values have smaller magnetic strain than those with a high trapped field. Further, the strain in the hoop direction is higher than that in the radial direction. The present results indicate that neutron diffraction measurements are an effective method for evaluating the bulk residual strains in a non-destructive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal lattice strains under a tensile load for CuNb/Nb3Sn wires with and without prebending treatment were measured directly by neutron diffraction at room temperature. In the axial direction of the wire, the residual lattice strain was changed by 0.29% to the tensile side, while, in the lateral direction, the change was 0.03% to the compressive side due to the prebending treatment. The relationships between the axial and lateral lattice strains under axial stress are almost linear with a slope of about 0.3 for both wires; however, the absolute value of the lateral lattice strain differed at the same axial lattice strain. Tensile load dependences of the axial and lateral lattice strains of Cu and Nb in the wires were also obtained. The prebending treatment was found to affect the elastic-plastic deformation behavior of Cu and to change the internal lattice strains of Nb3Sn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superelastic behavior is traditionally related to the martensitic transition with a collective transformation scenario in some shape memory alloys. A kind of quasi-linear superelasticity accompanied by a finite avalanche or confined martensitic transformation was recently found in some alloy systems with strain glass state. Here, an in situ neutron diffraction technique was used to study the deformation behavior in an Ni43Fe18Ga27Co12 alloy with strain glass state in order to reveal the new intrinsic physical nature of the quasi-linear superelasticity. A significant modulus softening prior to the stress-induced martensitic transformation was observed during compression in the studied alloy, which is similar to the characteristics exhibited in the tweed precursor phenomena prior to temperature-induced martensitic transformation. Moreover, the diffraction peak broadening was further shown during the elastic stage of deformation for both single-crystal and polycrystalline samples, which mainly stems from the short-range fluctuation in the strain field inside each grain based on Williamson-Hall analysis. The authors believe that there exists a spatial heterogeneity in the modulus of the confined martensitic transformation alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern society, architectural and civil engineering structures such as reinforced concrete buildings require high seismic performance to minimize the ‘megarisk’ exposed from urban earthquake hazards. In the reinforced concrete structures, the bond resistance between rebar and concrete is one important parameter for discussing its performance and it has been typically evaluated by measuring the strain distribution along the embedded rebar. Here, we present in-situ strain and stress measurements for the rebar in reinforced concrete using time-of-flight neutron diffraction as a novel alternative technique to typical strain gauges. It was demonstrated in this study that the three-dimensional deformation behavior of the embedded rebar in normal-strength concrete, cured in air, can be accurately measured under pull-out loading using time-of-flight neutron diffraction. Wider applications of neutron diffraction in the structural engineering field are expected for advanced understanding of actual phenomena on reinforced concrete structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practical superconductive (SC) wires such as the Nb3Sn and Nb3Al strands used in fusion reactors are typical composite materials consisting of brittle superconducting intermetallic compounds. Thermally induced strain is inevitably generated in the composite due to the different coefficients of thermal expansion and different moduli of elasticity among the constituent components. In order to evaluate quantitatively the thermal strain, local strain measurements during heating by means of quantum beams, and room temperature tensile tests were carried out. The stress versus strain curves of both Nb3Sn and Nb33 typical elasto-plastic behavior, which could be numerically evaluated on the basis of the rule of mixtures. The local strain exerted on SC filaments along the axial direction was compressive at room temperature and tensile at high temperatures, which is common for Nb3Sn and Nb3Al strands. Their temperature dependence was numerically evaluated by means of the iteration method. As a whole, it has been established that the temperature dependence of thermal strain can be reproduced well by the numerical calculation proposed here. It is pointed out that the thermal strain in SC filaments is affected by the creep phenomenon at high temperatures above a threshold temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several conductor samples were fabricated and tested in the SULTAN facility at CRPP for ITER Central Solenoid (CS) conductor qualification. From the result of the cyclic testing on the first and second conductor samples named CSJA01 and CSJA02, continuous linear degradation of the current sharing temperature (Tcs) was found. From the result of the visual inspection, a large deflection on the lower loading side (LLS) in the high field zone (HFZ) was observed. The bending strain of the strands cannot be evaluated from only the deflection obtained visually. To evaluate the strain of strands in CSJA01 quantitatively, a neutron diffraction measurement of the CSJA01 left leg was performed using the engineering materials diffractometer 'Takumi' in J-PARC. From the result, the large bending strain at the LLS in the HFZ was found. Therefore, the Tcs degraded position in the conductor sample due to the cyclic testing can be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal lattice strains under a tensile load for a seven-strand cable consisting of three pre-bent CuNb/Nb3Sn and four stainless steel strands were measured by neutron diffraction at room temperature in order to investigate the improvement of mechanical properties of Nb3Sn strands. Stress-lattice strain curves of Nb3Sn and stainless steel strands were obtained, and the effective stress for a Nb3Sn strand was estimated by considering the load sharing of a stainless strand. It was found that the reinforcement with stainless steel strands is an effective way to reduce an applied electromagnetic tensile load for Nb3Sn strands for superconducting magnet application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact cubic-anvil high-pressure device was developed for in situ neutron powder diffraction studies. In this device, a cubic shaped pressure medium is compressed by six anvils, and neutron beams pass through gaps between the anvils. The first high-pressure experiment using this device was conducted at J-PARC and clearly showed the neutron diffraction patterns of Pb. Combining the cubic-anvil high-pressure device with a pulsed neutron source will prove to be a useful tool for neutron diffraction experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The fabrication conditions of a high-pressure synthesis using a BN crucible have been established for the high-T c (T c>14K) and the low-T c (T c<12K) phases of the yttrium sesquicarbide (Y2C3). The single-phase sample was synthesized from an arc-melted precursor. In contrast, Y2C3 samples made from a powder precursor were not single-phase, although the reproducibilities of the high-T c phase and the highest value of T c were higher. The refinement results of neutron powder diffraction data for the high- and low-T c phases indicate a small difference between the two phases in the interatomic distance of the C–C dimer, while the lattice parameter was constant for all samples. The values of dT c/dP were measured for the high-T c phases (T c≈15K) and low-T c phases (T c≈11K) by a clamp cell technique detecting the AC susceptibility of the sample. The T c of Y2C3 systematically changes with applied hydrostatic pressure for both phases. However, the trends for the dT c/dPs are opposite: the value for the high-T c phase is positive, and that for the low-T c phase is negative. From these results, we concluded that the difference between the high-T c and low-T c phases in our Y2C3 samples did not originate in a simple contraction of the unit cell, but in the difference in the interatomic distances of the C–C dimers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]