• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.426-439
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• 2019

Many small RNAs (sRNAs) regulate gene expression by base pairing to their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) with the help of Hfq in Escherichia coli. The sRNA DsrA activates translation of the rpoS mRNA in an Hfq-dependent manner, but this activation ability was found to partially bypass Hfq when DsrA is overproduced. The precise mechanism by which DsrA bypasses Hfq is unknown. In this study, we constructed strains lacking all three rpoS-activating sRNAs (i.e., ArcZ, DsrA, and RprA) in $hfq^+$ and $Hfq^-$ backgrounds, and then artificially regulated the cellular DsrA concentration in these strains by controlling its ectopic expression. We then examined how the expression level of rpoS was altered by a change in the concentration of DsrA. We found that the translation and stability of the rpoS mRNA are both enhanced by physiological concentrations of DsrA regardless of Hfq, but that depletion of Hfq causes a rapid degradation of DsrA and thereby decreases rpoS mRNA stability. These results suggest that the observed Hfq dependency of DsrA-mediated rpoS activation mainly results from the destabilization of DsrA in the absence of Hfq, and that DsrA itself contributes to the translational activation and stability of the rpoS mRNA in an Hfq-independent manner.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.412-425
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• 2018

The Hfq protein is a global small RNA chaperone that interacts with regulatory bacterial small RNAs (sRNA) and plays a role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. The roles of Hfq in the virulence and pathogenicity of several infectious bacteria have been reported. This study was conducted to elucidate the functions of two hfq genes in Burkholderia glumae, a causal agent of rice grain rot. Therefore, mutant strains of the rice-pathogenic B. glumae BGR1, targeting each of the two hfq genes, as well as the double defective mutant were constructed and tested for several phenotypic characteristics. Bacterial swarming motility, toxoflavin production, virulence in rice, siderophore production, sensitivity to $H_2O_2$, and lipase production assays were conducted to compare the mutant strains with the wild-type B. glumae BGR1 and complementation strains. The hfq1 gene showed more influence on bacterial motility and toxoflavin production than the hfq2 gene. Both genes were involved in the full virulence of B. glumae in rice plants. Other biochemical characteristics such as siderophore production and sensitivity to $H_2O_2$ induced oxidative stress were also found to be regulated by the hfq1 gene. However, lipase activity was shown to be unassociated with both tested genes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to elucidate the functions of two hfq genes in B. glumae. Identification of virulence-related factors in B. glumae will facilitate the development of efficient control measures.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.483-490
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• 2013

In aluminum sheet metal forming, the conventional forming methods of T4 or T6 heat-treated sheets result in low formability and dimensional accuracy. This study suggests a new forming method for aluminum sheets called as hot forming quenching (HFQ) that solves the problems faced in the conventional method. HFQ combines the heat treatment and forming processes through the forming die during the quenching of a solid solution. To evaluate the application of HFQ to the sheet forming of aluminum, an Erichsen and V-bending test are performed in this study to measure the dimensional accuracy and formability, which are then compared with those of the conventional forming method. Furthermore, the strength and hardness of the products formed by HFQ are measured to confirm the degradation in mechanical properties compared with the conventional forming method, which shows the validity of the application of HFQ to aluminum sheet metal forming.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1519-1526
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• 2010

The behavior of peptide or protein solutes in saline aqueous solution is a fundamental topic in physical chemistry. Addition of ions can strongly alter the thermodynamic and physical properties of peptide molecules in solution. In order to study the effects of added ionic salts on protein conformation and dynamics, we have used the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the behavior of Staphylococcus aureus Hfq protein under two different ionic concentrations: 0.1 M NaCl and 1.0 M NaCl in presence and absence of RNA (a hepta-oligoribonucleotide AU5G). Hfq, a global regulator of gene expression is highly conserved and abundant RNA-binding protein. It is already reported that in vivo the increase of ionic strength results in a drastic reduction of Hfq affinity for $Q{\beta}$ RNA and reduces the tendency of aggregation of Escherichia coli host factor hexamers. Our results revealed the crucial role of 0.1 M NaCl Hfq system on the bases with strong hydrogen bonding interactions and by stabilizing the aromatic stacking of Tyr42 residue of the adjacent subunits/monomers with the adenine and uridine nucleobases. An increase in RNA pore diameter and weakened compactness of the Hfq-RNA complex was clearly observed in 1.0 M NaCl Hfq system with bound RNA. Aggregation of monomers in Hfq and the interaction of Hfq with RNA are greatly affected due to the presence of high ionic strength. Higher the ionic concentration, weaker is the aggregation and interaction. Our results were compatible with the experimental data and this is the first theoretical report for the experimental study done in 1980 by Uhlenbeck group for the present system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1664-1672
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• 2013

In Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, many genes encoded within Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) are required to induce intestinal/diarrheal disease. In this study, we compared the expression of four SPI1 genes (hilA, invF, prgH, and sipC) under shaking and standing culture conditions and found that the expression of these genes was highest during the transition from the exponential to stationary phase under shaking conditions. To identify regulators associated with the stationary phase-dependent activation of SPI1, the effects of selected regulatory genes, including relA/spoT (ppGpp), luxS, ihfB, hfq, and arcA, on the expression of hilA and invF were compared under shaking conditions. Mutations in the hfq and arcA genes caused a reduction in hilA and invF expression (more than 2-fold) in the early stationary phase only, whereas the lack of ppGpp and IHF decreased hilA and invF gene expression during the entire stationary phase. We also found that hfq and arcA mutations caused a reduction of hilD expression upon entry into the stationary phase under shaking culture conditions. Taken together, these results suggest that Hfq and ArcA regulate the hilD promoter, causing an accumulation of HilD, which can trigger a stationary phase-dependent activation of SPI1 genes under shaking culture conditions.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2017

Aluminum alloys are widely used in automotive industry because of their high strength-to-density ratio and excellent corrosion resistance. However, conventional cold stamping of aluminum alloys leads to low formability and excessive spring-back. To overcome these problems, Hot Forming Quenching (HFQ) is applied to manufacture automotive part using aluminum alloy. The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of forming temperature on spring-back in HFQ of T6 heat treated AA6061 sheet. In this study, hat shape forming test was adopted to evaluate spring-back characteristics according to various forming temperatures. In additions, the test was also performed with warm forming conditions in comparison with dimensional accuracy of HFQed part. The experimental results showed that dimensional accuracy of HFQed part was superior to warm formed part and amount of spring-back was decreased as forming temperature rise.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.209-220
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• 2002

In this paper, we propose a hierarchical packet scheduling technique to closely approximate a hierarchical extension of the generalized processor sharing model, Hierarchical Generalized Processor Sharing (H-GPS). Our approach is to undertake the tasks of service guarantee and hierarchical link sharing in an independent manner so that each task best serves its own objective. The H-GPS model is decomposed into two separate service components: the guaranteed service component to consistently provide performance guarantees over the entire system, and the excess service component to fairly distribute spare bandwidth according to the hierarchical scheduling rule. For tight and harmonized integration of the two service components into a single packet scheduling algorithm, we introduce two novel concepts of distributed virtual time and service credit, and develop a packet version of H-GPS called Hierarchical Fair Queueing (HFQ). We demonstrate the layerindependent performance of the HFQ algorithm through simulation results.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.27-28
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• 2007

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.61-68
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• 2021

As part of efforts to reduce the weight of automotive body-in-white, a hybrid center pillar with high strength 7075 aluminum alloy (AA7075) sheet and carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) has been recently studied. In the fabrication of the AA7075-CFRP hybrid center pillar, the AA7075 sheet might go through heating-forming-in-die quenching (HFQ), artificial aging, hybridizing, and then paint baking processes. In this study, we investigate the effects of the heat treatment history associated with each process on the tensile strength of the AA7075 sheet. Typical heat treatment conditions are HFQ for 20 minutes at 480℃ and then cooling down with die, artificial aging of T6 temper for 24 hours at 120℃, hybridizing for 10 minutes at 150℃, and paint baking for 20 minutes at 180℃. The tensile strength of the AA7075 sheet is continuously increased by a series of heat treatments of hybridizing and paint baking and is expected to have yield stress above 500MPa without artificial aging of T6 temper.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.305-312
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• 2007

환경오염을 신속하게 모니터링하기 위한 생물지표의 개발은 증가하고 있는 오염의 심각성에 비추어 매우 중요한 과제로 여겨지고 있다. 본 연구에서는 독성물질처리에 의하여 선택적으로 발현이 조절되는 단백질의 동정을 통하여 독성물질에 대한 단백질 생물지표를 발굴하고자 시도하였다. 즉, 송사리(Oryzias latipes)를 유기인계 살충제인 다이아지논(diazinon)에 0, 0.1, 1, 5 mg/L 농도로 24시간 노출시킨 후, 머리와 몸통부분으로 나누어 단백질 발현패턴을 분석하였다. 본 시스템에서 다이아지논 처리에 의하여 유의적으로 발현이 증가된 단백질로서 alpha-tubulin, ribonuclease pancreatic precursor, protein hfq 등을 동정하였으며, 이 가운데 alpha-tubulin과 $hsp90{\beta}$의 발현이 다이아지논 농도에 의존적으로 증가하는 것을 semi-quantitative RT-PCR방법으로 확인하였다. 이와 같이 다이아지논 처리에 특이적으로 발현이 증가된 송사리 단백질들은 노출평가를 위한 생물지표로서 개발에 응용될 수 있을 것으로 평가된다.