• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.37-42
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• 2016

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to determine the optimal frequency of ground penetrating radar (GPR) testing for detecting the voids under the pavement. METHODS : In order to determine the optimal frequency of GPR testing for void detection, a full-scale test section was constructed to simulate the actual size of voids under the pavement. Voids of various sizes were created by inserting styrofoam at varying depths under the pavement. Subsequently, 250-, 500-, and 800-MHz ground-coupled GPR testing was conducted in the test section and the resulting GPR signals were recorded. The change in the amplitude of these signals was evaluated by varying the GPR frequency, void size, and void depth. The optimum frequency was determined from the amplitude of the signals. RESULTS: The capacity of GPR to detect voids under the pavement was evaluated by using three different ground-coupled GPR frequencies. In the case of the B-scan GPR data, a parabolic shape occurred in the vicinity of the voids. The maximum GPR amplitude in the A-scan data was used to quantitatively determine the void-detection capacity. CONCLUSIONS: The 250-MHz GPR testing enabled the detection of 10 out of 12 simulated voids, whereas the 500-MHz testing allowed the detection of only five. Furthermore, the amplitude of GPR detection associated with 250-MHz testing is significantly higher than that of 500-MHz testing. This indicates that 250-MHz GPR testing is well-suited for the detection of voids located at depths ranging from 0.5~2.0 m. Testing at frequencies lower than 250 MHz is recommended for void detection at depths greater than 2 m.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2013

G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily is the largest known receptor family, characterized by seven transmembrane domains and considered to be an important drug target. In this study we focused on an orphan GPCR termed as GPR18. As there is no X-ray crystal structure has been reported for this receptor, we report on a homology model of GPR18. Template structure with high homology was used for modeling and ten models were developed. A model was selected and refined by energy minimization. The selected model was further validated using various parameters. Our results could be a starting point for further structure based drug design.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.61-67
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• 2016

OBJECTIVES : The objective of this study is to detect road cavities using multi-channel 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) tests owned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. METHODS : Ground-penetrating radar tests were conducted on 204 road-cavity test sections, and the GPR signal patterns were analyzed to classify signal shape, amplitude, and phase change. RESULTS : The shapes of the GPR signals of road-cavity sections were circular or ellipsoidal in the plane image of the 3D GPR results. However, in the longitudinal or transverse direction, the signals showed mostly unsymmetrical (or symmetrical in some cases) parabolic shapes. The amplitude of the GPR signals reflected from road cavities was stronger than that from other media. No particular pattern of the amplitude was found because of nonuniform medium and utilities nearby. In many cases where road cavities extended to the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, the signal phase was reversed. However, no reversed signal was found in subbase, subgrade, or deeper locations. CONCLUSIONS : For detecting road cavities, the results of the GPR signal-pattern analysis can be applied. In general, GPR signals on road cavity-sections had unsymmetrical hyperbolic shape, relatively stronger amplitude, and reversed phase. Owing to the uncertainties of underground materials, utilities, and road cavities, GPR signal interpretation was difficult. To perform quantitative analysis for road cavity detection, additional GPR tests and signal pattern analysis need to be conducted.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.455-462
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• 2023

During pregnancy, maternal immune activation (MIA) from infection increases the risk of neurodevelopmental diseases, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. MIA induced by polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly (I:C)) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in animal experiments has led to offspring with abnormal behaviors and brain development. In addition, it has recently been reported that microglia, which reside in the brain and function as immune cells, play an important role in behavioral abnormalities and brain development in MIA-induced offspring. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether microglia-specific inhibition of GPR56, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, causes behavioral abnormalities in brain development. First, MIA induction did not affect the microglia population, but when examining the expression of microglial GRP56 in MIA-induced fetuses, GPR56 expression was inhibited between embryonic days 14.5 (E14.5) and E18.5 regardless of sex. Furthermore, microglial GPR56-suppressed mice showed abnormal behaviors in the MIA-induced offspring, including sociability deficits, repetitive behavioral patterns, and increased anxiety levels. Although abnormal cortical development such as that in the MIA-induced offspring were not observed in the microglial GPR56-suppressed mice, their brain activity was observed through c-fos staining. These results suggest that microglia-specific GPR56 deficiency may cause abnormal behaviors and could be used as a biomarker for the diagnosis and/or as a therapeutic target of behavioral deficits in MIA offspring.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.55-61
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• 2016

PURPOSES : The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the dielectric characteristics of asphalt mixtures and the air voids present in them using ground penetrating radar (GPR) testing. METHODS : To measure the dielectric properties of the asphalt mixtures, the reflection coefficient method and the approach based on the actual thickness of the asphalt layer were used. An air-couple-type GPR antenna with a center frequency of 1 GHz was used to measure the time for reflection from the asphalt/base layer interface. A piece of aluminum foil was placed at the interface to be able to determine the reflection time of the GPR signal with accuracy. An asphalt pavement testbed was constructed, and asphalt mixtures with different compaction numbers were tested. After the GPR tests, the asphalt samples were cored and their thicknesses and number of air voids were measured in the laboratory. RESULTS : It was found the dielectric constant of asphalt mixtures tends to decrease with an increase in the number of air voids. The dielectric constant values estimated from the reflection coefficient method exhibited a slight correlation to the number of air voids. However, the dielectric constant values measured using the approach based on the actual asphalt layer thickness were closely related to the asphalt mixture density. Based on these results, a regression equation to determine the number of air voids in asphalt mixtures using the GPR test method was proposed. CONCLUSIONS : It was concluded that the number of air voids in an asphalt mixture can be calculated based on the dielectric constant of the mixture as determined by GPR testing. It was also found that the number of air voids was exponentially related to the dielectric constant, with the coefficient of determination, $R^2$, being 0.74. These results suggest that the dielectric constant as determined by GPR testing can be used to improve the construction quality and maintenance of asphalt pavements.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics D
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• v.36D no.3
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• pp.12-18
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• 1999

3차원 FDTD법을 이용하여 GPR 안테나의 복사 특성을 해석하였다. Bow-tie 안테나 구조에 대해서는 삼각형 countour-path FDTD, 지하와 같은 분산매질에 대한 흡수경계조건으로 dispersive PML, 공기와 지하간에는 다층구조에 대한 최적 PML 부가조건을 적용하여 Bourgeois의 FDTD계산 모형을 개선하였다. 또한 확장 그리드 기법을 적용하여 수치 계산에 필요한 셀 수를 줄일 수 있음을 보였다.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.7
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• pp.31-37
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• 2023

Since tunnels are built underground, it is impossible to check visually the location and degree of deterioration of steel ribs. Therefore, in tunnel maintenance, GPR images are generally used to detect steel ribs. While research on GPR image analysis employing artificial neural networks has primarily focused on detecting underground pipes and road damage, there have been limited applications for analyzing tunnel GPR data, specifically for steel rib detection, both internationally and domestically. In this study, a one-step object detection algorithm called YOLO, based on a convolutional neural network, was utilized to automate the localization of steel ribs using GPR data. The performance of the algorithm is then analyzed. Two datasets were employed for the analysis. A dataset comprising 512 original images and another dataset consisting of 2,048 augmented images. The omission rate, which represents the ratio of undetected steel ribs to the total number of steel ribs, was 0.38% for the model using the augmented data, whereas the omission rate for the model using only the original data was 7.18%. Thus, from an automation standpoint, it is more practical to employ an augmented dataset.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.209-215
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• 2017

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was applied to an evaluation of the concrete condition of bridge decks with asphalt concrete. Deterioration was considered to have occurred when the relative permittivity of a concrete-faced asphalt concrete overlay showed more than 12. The relative permittivity of concrete varied considerably with the levels of porosity and water. In this study, GPR tests were carried out to determine the influence of weather and concrete condition on the relative permittivity for the research subject of an overlaid concrete bridge deck in public service. According to the test results, if bridge decks are in good condition, the relative permittivity of the top concrete of a bridge deck exhibited a normal distribution. After the deck concrete deteriorated, the relative permittivity varied with the amount of penetrated water according to the weather condition and deteriorated status of deck concrete.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.25-30
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• 2002

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.13-18
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• 2018

Recently, road subsidence has been increasing in urban areas, threatening the safety of citizens. In the lower part of the road, various road facilities such as water supply and drainage pipelines and telecommunication facilities are buried, and the deterioration of the facilities causes the road subsidence. In particular, in the case of old sewer pipes which are attracting attention as a main cause of road subsidence, the management of sewer pipe replacement, repair and reinforcement is being performed depending on the burial year. Therefore, in this study, we tried to suggest a reliable road subsidence risk assessment method considering various sewer specifications and surrounding environment information and CCTV exploration result and GPR exploration result.