AI Production Research Articles

Effects of Innate Innovativeness and Product Interest on Product-Specific Consumer Innovativeness

This study investigated consumer innovativeness by examining a relationship model of innate innovativeness, product interest, product-specific innovativenss, and actualized innovativeness for eight product items as well as observed gender differences in the variables. The eight product items for the survey were smartphones, movies, clothing, cars, skin care products/cosmetics, traveling, AI products, and books. An online survey was conducted in January 2018, and 400 responses from male and female consumers in their twenties and thirties, were analyzed using reliability test, descriptive statistics, regression, and ANCOVA. The positive effect of innate innovativeness and product interest on product-specific innovativeness, and positive effect of innate innovativeness and product-specific innovativeness on actualized innovativeness were confirmed. Product interest was found to have a stronger power on product-specific innovativeness than innate innovativeness. Gender differences in product interest, product-specific innovativeness, and actualized innovativeness were identified as hypothesized. Female consumer’s clothing interest, clothing innovativenss, and actualized clothing innovativeness were higher than male consumers; in addition, male consumer’s cars and AI interest, cars and AI innovativenss, and actualized cars and AI innovativeness were higher than female’s. The controversial results that indicated the higher innate innovativeness of male consumers useful to further in-depth discussion and research. This study contributed to the theory construction of consumer innovativeness research areas and offered practical implications for new product launching and customer relationship management. Keywords: consumer innovativeness, innate innovativeness, product interest, product-specific innovativeness

Educational AI

Abstract Regarding possible implications for teaching and learning, the article explores the production and productive effects of educational AI from sociology of knowledge/ of technology perspectives from three sides: Firstly, the role of knowledge (re-)construction in the creation of educational AI is investigated. In this context, contrasting engineeringoriented approaches, educational AI systems are conceptualised as agentic entities infused with tacit and explicit knowledge about sociality and education, and as potentially reshaping both educational practices and scientific concepts. Looking at promotional and engineeringoriented AI discourses, the article secondly examines how education and AI are linked and how the knowledge pervasion of educational AI is addressed. Findings indicate that the discursive production of educational AI relates to the interwoven assumptions that education and specifically lifelong learning are obliged and able to remedy large-scale societal challenges and that educational AI can leverage this potential. They also indicate that an educational AI system’s knowledge is deemed a reflection of explicit (expert) knowledge that in the form of rationales can, in turn, be reflected to the systems’ users. Thirdly, regarding arising challenges for the sensitive area of education, educational AI’s role in knowledge gathering practices both in educational research and big educational data analysis is addressed.

Inhibition of hepatic apolipoprotein A-I gene expression by histamine

In a recent high throughput analysis to identify drugs that alter hepatic apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) expression, histamine receptor one (H1) antagonists emerged as potential apo A-1 inducing drugs. Thus the present study was undertaken to identify some of the underlying molecular mechanisms of the effect of antihistaminic drugs on apo AI production. Apo A-I levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay and Western blots. Apo A-I mRNA levels were measured by reverse transcription real-time PCR using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA as the internal control. The effects of histamine and antihistamines on apo A-I gene were determined by transient transfection of plasmids containing the apo A-I gene promoter. Histamine repressed while (H1) receptor antagonist azelastine increased apo A-I protein and mRNA levels within 48 h in a dose-dependent manner. Azelastine and histamine increased and suppressed, respectively, apo A-I gene promoter activity through a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α response element. Treatment of HepG2 cells with other H1 receptor antagonists including fexofenadine, cetirizine, and diphenhydramine increased apo A-I levels in a dose-dependent manner while treatment with H2 receptor antagonists including cimetidine, famotidine, and ranitidine had no effect. We conclude that H1 receptor signaling is a novel pathway of apo A1 gene expression and therefore could be an important therapeutic target for enhancing de-novo apo A-1 synthesis.

Agile Software Development: It's Implication for AI products and Developers

Agile Software Development: It's Implication for AI products and Developers

Reframing AI Discourse

A critically important ethical issue facing the AI research community is how AI research and AI products can be responsibly conceptualised and presented to the public. A good deal of fear and concern about uncontrollable AI is now being displayed in public discourse. Public understanding of AI is being shaped in a way that may ultimately impede AI research. The public discourse as well as discourse among AI researchers leads to at least two problems: a confusion about the notion of ‘autonomy’ that induces people to attribute to machines something comparable to human autonomy, and a ‘sociotechnical blindness’ that hides the essential role played by humans at every stage of the design and deployment of an AI system. Here our purpose is to develop and use a language with the aim to reframe the discourse in AI and shed light on the real issues in the discipline.

Generators of Groups and Lie Algebras of the Form F/[N,N

Let F be a free product of nontrivial groups Ai, i ∈ I, and a free group G, and let N be a normal subgroup of F such that N ∩ Ai = 1, i ∈ I. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for a given element of the group F/[N,N] to belong to the subgroup generated by a given set of elements of F/[N,N] and necessary and sufficient conditions for a given finite set of elements of F/[N,N] to be a set of generators of F/[N,N]. Similar results are obtained for Lie algebras. Bibliography: 10 titles.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COST AND RETURN OF LEMONGRASS FARMING IN NAKHON NAYOK PROVINCE OF THAILAND: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Rural farming systems of Thailand , especially in nursery farming , is one of the most interest ing field to economists, sociologists, social anthropologists . Many studies have been attempted to identify the factors that influence the growth Ayurvedic and nursery farming from ecological, social, and economic perspective. This study was aimed to examine econo mic analysis of cost and return of lemongrass farming in Nakhon Nayok province of Thailand . It also attempts to explore the economic characteristics of lemongrass production and its profitability across varied farm size in the study area in which socioeconomic factors with respect to sustenance of livelihood of the far mers is also taken into account . The present study indicates that land size and productivity is slightly inversely related. The per r ai ( 1 Rai= 0.395 Acre) production is highest for large cultivators which is 9.2 tons. Whereas it is 8.9 tons and 9 tons for small and medium farmers respective ly. Consequently, per rai profit is also highest for large farmers. However, the overall benefit to cost ratio (BCR) is 1.30 which indicates that lemongrass production is a profitable cultivation in the study area . It is also found that overall ret urn on i nvestment (ROI) of lemongrass ( Cymbopogon flexuosus ) production in the study area is 30 percent per cycle of production. Based on the study , suggesti ons and recommendations has been furnished to support the development and sustainability of local lemongras s farming community. The study will help to fulfil the lacunas in research and development to improve the sustenance of lemongrass farming.

Comparison and evaluation of dust detection algorithms using MODIS Aqua/Terra Level 1B data and MODIS/OMI dust products in the Middle East

Dust storms have a major impact on air quality, economic loss, and human health over large regions of the Middle East. Because of the broad extent of dust storms and also political–security issues in this region, satellite data are an important source of dust detection and mapping. The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the performance of five main dust detection algorithms, including Ackerman, Miller, normalized difference dust index (NDDI), Roskovensky and Liou, and thermal-infrared dust index (TDI), using MODIS Level 1B and also MODIS Deep Blue AOD and OMI AI products in two dust events originating from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Overall, results showed that the performance of the algorithms varied from event to event and it was not possible to use the published dust/no-dust thresholds for the algorithms tested in the study area. The MODIS AOD and OMI AI products were very effective for initial dust detection and the AOD and AI images correlated highly with the dust images at provincial scale (p-value <0.001), but the application of these products was limited at local scale due to their poor spatial resolution. Results also indicated that algorithms based on MODIS thermal infrared (TIR) bands or a combination of TIR and reflectance bands were better indicators of dust than reflectance-based ones. Among the TIR- based algorithms, TDI performed the best over water surfaces and dust sources, and accounted for approximately 93% and 90% of variations in the AOD and OMI AI data.

Low Rate of Production of Apolipoproteins B100 and AI in 2 Patients With Anderson Disease (Chylomicron Retention Disease)

Anderson disease is a rare inherited lipid malabsorption syndrome associated with hypocholesterolemia and linked to SAR1B mutations. The aim of this article was to analyze the mechanisms responsible for the low plasma apolipoprotein Apo-B100 and Apo-AI in 2 patients with Anderson disease. A primed constant infusion of (13)C-leucine was administered for 14 hours to determine the kinetics of lipoproteins. In the 2 patients, total cholesterol (77 and 85 mg/dL versus 155±32 mg/dL), triglycerides (36 and 59 versus 82±24 mg/dL), Apo-B100 (48 and 43 versus 71±5 mg/dL), and Apo-AI (47 and 62 versus 130±7 mg/dL) were lower compared with 6 healthy individuals. Very-low-density lipoprotein-B100 production rate of the patients was lower (4.08 and 5.52 mg/kg/day versus 12.96±2.88 mg/kg/day) as was the fractional catabolic rate (5.04 and 4.32 day(-1) versus 12.24±3.84 day(-1)). No difference was observed in intermediate-density lipoprotein-B100 and LDL-B100 kinetic data. The production rate of high-density lipoprotein Apo-AI was lower in the patients (7.92 and 8.64 versus 11.96±1.92 mg/kg/day) and the fractional catabolic rate was higher (0.38 and 0.29 versus 0.22±0.01 day(-1)). The low plasma Apo-B100 and Apo-AI concentrations in the patients with Anderson disease were mainly related to low rates of production.

Identification of arenas unconquered by agile manufacturing researches and practices through a literature survey

During the last two decades, numerous researches and applications of agile manufacturing (AM) have been reported in the literature arena. Yet, there are certain arenas that are not conquered by AM researches and practices. This paper reports a literature survey, which was conducted to identify those unconquered arenas in manufacturing field. During this literature survey, it was found that two artificial intelligence techniques are conspicuously absent in AM researches and practices. It was found out that the AM researches and practices are not applied much in sectors other than automobile, aerospace and electronic industrial sectors. It was found that the AM practices and researches are yet to be applied on several products. This paper is concluded by suggesting that the contemporary researchers may explore the ways of overcoming the hurdles in conquering AM researches and practices on AI techniques, industrial sectors and products that are pinpointed in this paper.

Increased Apolipoprotein AI Production Rate and Redistribution of High-Density Lipoprotein Size Induced by Estrogen plus Progestin as Oral Contraceptive

The impact of estrogen plus progestin as an oral contraceptive on high density lipoprotein (HDL) apolipoprotein (apo) AI metabolism in humans is poorly understood. This study was designed to measure the in vivo effect of Moneva (30 microg ethinylestradiol, 75 microg gestodene) on HDL apoAI production rate and fractional catabolic rate. Using (13)C-leucine, we performed two kinetic studies in the fed state in 10 normolipidemic young women, before and 3 months after beginning Moneva. On Moneva, serum triglycerides increased by 12% (P = 0.03) in the fed state, whereas low-density lipoprotein and HDL cholesterol remained unchanged. HDL apoAI pool size and production rate were increased by 9.2% (67.3 +/- 7.1 vs. 61.6 +/- 6.7 mg x kg(-1); P = 0.05) and 26.5% (14.3 +/- 2.7 vs. 11.3 +/- 2.2 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1); P = 0.02), respectively. HDL apoAI fractional catabolic rate was not significantly modified. Three-month treatment by Moneva induced a shift of HDL size distribution from HDL2 toward HDL3 (HDL3 = 51.5 +/- 8.1 vs. 46.5 +/- 9.2% of total HDL; P = 0.02) and an increase in the proportion of apoAI among HDL components (38.8 +/- 4.3 vs. 34.4 +/- 2.8%; P = 0.01). Oral contraception by estrogen plus progestin induces changes in HDL apoAI metabolism characterized by an increase in production rate and pool size, with a higher proportion of HDL3 particles. Whether or not these changes are beneficial to prevent atherosclerosis has to be explored further.

Rosiglitazone modifies HDL structure and increases HDL-apo AI synthesis and catabolic rates

Background Rosiglitazone is an agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma that may modify HDL metabolism in humans, but this effect has not been completely elucidated. Therefore, we determined the effect of rosiglitazone on apo AI turnover, HDL structure, and PON1 plasma activity. Methods Kinetic studies of HDL-apo AI radiolabeled with 125I were performed in 7 chow-fed, male, New Zealand white rabbits after 6 weeks of 0.32 mg/kg/d rosiglitazone-treatment vs. vehicle-treated rabbits ( n = 11). HDL size distribution was determined by polyacrylamide gradient electrophoresis and paraoxonase-1 (PON1); plasma activity was assessed spectrophotometrically using phenylacetate as substrate. Results Fractional catabolic rate (FCR) of HDL apo AI was higher in the rosiglitazone-treated group than in the control group (0.031 ± 0.004 vs. 0.025 ± 0.006 pools/h, respectively, p < 0.05). The mean apo AI production rate (PR) was 62% higher in the rosiglitazone group as compared to controls (0.918 ± 0.238 vs. 0.564 ± 0.160 mg/kg/h, p < 0.01). Accordingly, apo AI plasma levels in rosiglitazone-treated animals were about 37% higher than in the control group. Rosiglitazone-induced changes in apo AI turnover appeared concomitantly with a significant increase of phospholipids and a decrease in colesteryl esters content of the HDL. Compositional changes resulted in a relative increase of the HDL3b and HDL3c subfractions and a significant enhancement of the plasma PON1 activity (488.5 ± 138.2 vs. 595.2 ± 179.4 µmol/min/ml, p < 0.05). Conclusions Rosiglitazone increased apo AI plasma concentrations, resulting from an enhancement of apo AI synthesis, and induced the synthesis of smaller HDL particles with a concomitant increase of plasma PON1 activity. These modifications may contribute to the anti-atherogenic potential of rosiglitazone.

ノルウェー領北海Ａｓｔｅｒｏ構造―ＡＩ‐Ｖｐ／Ｖｓによる砂岩の抽出―

Hydrocarbon was discovered in the Astero structure located in the northern part of Norwegian North Sea. The reservoir, Oxfordian turbidite sandstone, is also reservoir of a nearby field and commonly indicates Class-IV AVO anomaly. The sandstones can be separated based on the type of fluids on the cross-plot of well-based AI vs. Vp/Vs. Since the structure is compartmentalized with different contacts, in-house seismic inversion was planned and carried out for investigating the hydrocarbons in place.Seismic data used in this study was acquired in 1992. Offset records (Near-, Middle- and Far-offset) re-processed in 2005 were used in this study. Hampson Russell's software was used in the inversion and the model base inversion was adopted.A low AI zone is generally expected to suggest possible hydrocarbon bearing reservoir. AI results in this study, however, do not have enough vertical resolution to separate sandstone with different fluids. Most of the low AI zones extend further deeper depth than the OWC confirmed by the wells. On the other hand, generally low Vp/Vs ratio is observed in the sandstone interval and does not show difference in different fluids.A 3D cube multiplying AI and Vp/Vs was made to predict spatial variation of the reservoir quality. Based on the cross-plot of AI and Vp/Vs of the well data, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone has lower AI and Lower Vp/Vs and could be emphasized in this product. As a result, sandstones are fairly well separated by this product from over- and under-lying shale. Sandstones with different fluids, however, are not distinguished. This is partly because that the thickness of the hydrocarbon bearing zone is as thin as a half dominant wavelength. There is a well which penetrated the equivalent Oxfordian sandstone 5.5km away from the discovery well. In this well, the Oxfordian sandstone becomes thin and is cemented by calcite. The product of AI and Vp/Vs seems to indicate changes in the reservoir quality as well as thickness between these two wells and shows potential being utilized in the lithostratigraphic interpretation and geo-model construction, etc..

$C^*$-envelopes of universal free products and semicrossed products for multivariable dynamics

We show that, for a class of operator algebras satisfying a natural condition, the C* -envelope of the universal free product of operator algebras Ai is given by the free product of the C* -envelopes of the Ai . We apply this theorem to, in special cases, the C* -envelope of the semicrossed products for multivariable dynamics in terms of the single variable semicrossed products of Peters.

Different VLDL apo B, and HDL apo AI and apo AII metabolism in two heterozygous carriers of unrelated mutations in the lipoprotein lipase gene

Background Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency has been suggested as a cause of low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) plasma levels, by a mechanism that involves an enhanced catabolism of HDL apolipoprotein (apo) AI. To verify the role of 2 different LPL gene mutations on HDL metabolism, we studied the in vivo turnover of the apo AI and apo AII in heterozygous carriers of LPL deficiency. Methods Apo AI and AII kinetics were studied by a 10-h primed constant infusion of 5,5,5- 2H 3-leucine approach in 2 carriers, 1 man (patient 1) and 1 woman (patient 2), and 5 control subjects. The rates of HDL apolipoproteins production (PR) and catabolism (FCR) were estimated using a one-compartment model-based analysis. Results Both carriers had low HDL-C plasma levels and only patient 1 was hypertriglyceridemic. VLDL apo B was 4-times slower in patient 1 as compared to patient 2. The FCRs of apo AI in both carriers was within the range of the controls (0.200, 0.221 and 0.211 ± 0.051 day − 1 , respectively). Apo AII FCR in patient 1 was about 20% lower than the mean of the control group whereas being normal in patient 2. Apo AI PR in patient 1 (9.20 mg kg − 1 day − 1 ) was below the lowest value in controls (range, 10.52–13.24 mg kg − 1 day − 1 ) whereas in patient 2 it was normal. Apo AII PR in both patients was similar to controls. Conclusion The heterozygous carriers of 2 different mutations in the LPL gene had different VLDL apo B FCR, and from normal to slightly low HDL apolipoprotein FCR and PR. These results disagree with the putative enhanced apo AI FCR in LPL deficient patients and suggest the need to reconsider the effects of LPL activity on HDL metabolism.

Pioglitazone increases the fractional catabolic and production rates of high-density lipoproteins apo AI in the New Zealand White Rabbit

Pioglitazone is an agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) that raises HDL-cholesterol plasma in humans. Whether pioglitazone-mediated modifications in HDL-apolipoprotein AI (apo AI) turnover in vivo contribute to this effect has not been completely elucidated. Therefore, we performed kinetic studies of HDL-apo AI radiolabeled with 125I in male New Zealand White rabbits after 6 weeks of 0.6 ( n = 8), 1.75 ( n = 8), and 2.6 mg/kg/day ( n = 7) pioglitazone and vehicle ( n = 12) treatment. Fractional catabolic rate (FCR) of HDL-apo AI was significantly higher in 1.75 and 2.6 mg/kg pioglitazone-treated animals, as compared with control rabbits (0.057 ± 0.014 and 0.049 ± 0.01 versus 0.025 ± 0.005 pools/h, respectively); these changes were associated to a similar increase in apo AI production rates (PR) (1.24 ± 0.62 and 1.14 ± 0.40 versus 0.53 ± 0.17 mg/kg/h, p < 0.01). Consequently, apo AI plasma levels in pioglitazone-treated animals were similar to those of controls. The apo AI-FRC and -PR correlated with the relative proportion of the HDL3c subclass, as determined by polyacrylamide gradient electrophoresis. Our data demonstrate that pioglitazone markedly modifies apo AI kinetics and enhances the proportion of small HDL3c particles, despite the unchanged apo AI concentration. Whether or not the pioglitazone-induced structural changes of HDL contribute to the anti-atherosclerotic effects of the drug remains to be determined.

Effects of atorvastatin versus fenofibrate on apoB-100 and apoA-I kinetics in mixed hyperlipidemia

Kinetics of apo B and apo AI were assessed in 8 patients with mixed hyperlipidemia at baseline and after 8 weeks of atorvastatin 80 mg q.d. and micronised fenofibrate 200 mg q.d. in a cross-over study. Both increased hepatic production and decreased catabolism of VLDL accounted for elevated cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations at baseline. Atorvastatin significantly decreased triglyceride, total, VLDL and LDL cholesterol and apo B concentrations (-65%, -36%, -57%, -40% and -33%, respectively, P<0.05). Kinetic analysis revealed that atorvastatin stimulated the catabolism of apo B containing lipoproteins, enhanced the delipidation of VLDL1 and decreased VLDL1 production. Fenofibrate lowered triglycerides and VLDL cholesterol (-57% and -64%, respectively, P<0.05) due to enhanced delipidation of VLDL1 and VLDL2 and increased VLDL1 catabolism. Changes of HDL particle composition accounted for the increase of HDL cholesterol during atorvastatin and fenofibrate (18% and 23%, P<0.01). Only fenofibrate increased apo AI concentrations through enhanced apo AI synthesis (45%, P<0.05). We conclude that atorvastatin exerts additional beneficial effects on the metabolism of apo B containing lipoproteins unrelated to an increase in LDL receptor activity. Fenofibrate but not atorvastatin increases apo AI production and plasma turnover.

RINGS AND MODULES WITH EXCHANGE PROPERTIES

All rings are assumed to be associative and (except for nil-rings and for some stipulated cases) to have nonzero identity elements. A ring A is an exchange ring if the following two equivalent conditions hold: (1) for any element a ∈ A, there exists an idempotent e ∈ aA with 1 − e ∈ (1 − a)A; (2) for any element a ∈ A, there exists an idempotent e ∈ Aa with 1− e ∈ A(1− a). (The equivalence (1)⇐⇒(2) is proved in 2.1 below.) A ring A is said to be regular if for every element a of A, there exists an element b of A such that a = aba. A ring A is semiregular if A/J(A) is a regular ring and all idempotents of A/J(A) can be lifted to idempotents of A. A ring A is a π-regular ring if, for every element a of A, there exists an element b of A such that a = aba for some positive integer n. Every semiregular or π-regular ring is an exchange ring (see 2.11(1)). It is directly verified that the ring of all rational numbers with odd denominators is an exchange ring that is not a π-regular ring. Let B be the ring of all rational numbers with odd denominators, {Ai}i=1 be a countable infinite set of copies of the field of rational numbers, D be the direct product of all rings Ai, and R be the subring in D generated by the ideal ⊕i=1Ai and by the subring {(b, b, b, . . . ) | b ∈ B}. Then R is a commutative reduced semiprimitive exchange ring that is not a semiregular ring (see 2.9(4)). A moduleM has the finite exchange property if for every moduleX and for every direct decomposition X = M ′ ⊕ Y = ⊕i∈INi, where M ′ ∼= M and I is a finite set, there exist submodules N ′ i ⊆ Ni (i ∈ I) such that X = M ′ ⊕ (⊕i∈IN ′ i). The importance of exchange rings is related to the fact that a module M has the finite exchange property if and only if the ring End(M) is an exchange ring [75]. The systematic study of modules with the finite exchange property and exchange rings was initiated in [18,58,75]. Also, see [2–4,14,17,39,43,48,55,56,58–61,63,67,73–75,77–79,82–85,87–90,93]. Exchange rings are potent rings (a ring A is potent if every right ideal of A that is not contained in J(A) contains a nonzero idempotent and all idempotents of A/J(A) can be lifted to idempotents of A). Thus, exchange rings have many idempotents. For a module M , the Jacobson radical, the endomorphism ring, and the lattice of all submodules are denoted by J(M), End(M), and Lat(M), respectively. For a ring A, C(A) and U(A) denote the center and the group of invertible elements of A, respectively. For a subset B of a ring A, the right annihilator and the left annihilator of B in A are denoted by rA(B) and A(B), respectively. We can omit the subscripts if the situation is obvious. If X and Y are subsets of a ring A, then XY denotes the set of all finite sums { ∑ xiyi | xi ∈ X, yi ∈ Y }. In particular, ABA denotes the ideal of A generated by its subset B. A submoduleN of a moduleM is essential (in M) if N has the nonzero intersection with any nonzero submodule of M . In this case, we say that the module M is an essential extension of N . A right (resp. left) module M over a ring A is a nonsingular module if r(m) (resp. (m)) is not an essential right (resp. left) ideal of A for every nonzero element m of M . A ring without nonzero nilpotent elements is called a reduced ring. A ring is normal if all its idempotents are central. Every reduced ring A is normal, since for any idempotent e ∈ A, we have 0 = (eA(1 − e))2 = ((1− e)Ae)2, whence eA(1− e) = (1− e)Ae = 0.

Albumin inhibits apolipoprotein AI and AII production in human hepatoblastoma cell line (Hep G2): additive effects of oleate–albumin complex

Although the role of multiple humoral agents (such as plasma albumin, glucose, hormones etc.) are implicated in lipoprotein metabolism, the mechanism of action of these agents on various steps of the synthesis and secretion of lipoproteins and apolipoproteins (protein moieties of lipoproteins) are not completely understood. Specifically, the hepatocellular mechanisms of the effect of albumin and fatty acids on apolipoprotein (apo) AI and AII [major proteins of high density lipoproteins (HDL)] synthesis and secretion are not known. Using human hepatoblastoma cells (Hep G2) as an in vitro model system, this study examined the effect of albumin and fatty acids on the synthesis, secretion, and the steady-state mRNA expression of apo AI and AII. The data indicated that the incubation of Hep G2 cells with albumin, dose-dependently, inhibited apo AI and AII accumulation (secretion) in the media, de novo synthesis, and the steady-state mRNA expression. Albumin did not alter total protein synthesis; thus the effect of albumin appeared to be specific for the synthesis and secretion of apo AI and apo AII. Free fatty acids (FFA) are transported by albumin and diseases characterized by enhanced FFA mobilization (e.g. diabetes mellitus) are associated with low HDL levels. Studies were therefore performed to examine the effect of albumin-bound-oleic acid on apo AI and apo AII production. The results showed that the albumin–oleate complex further increased the inhibitory effects of albumin on apo AI and apo AII production. These data suggest how HDL metabolism may be affected at the hepatocellular level by alterations in plasma albumin concentrations and/or fatty acid mobilization in clinical situations characterized by altered HDL levels.

Shmel’kin embeddings for abstract and profinite groups

The Magnus embedding is well known: given a group A=F/R, where F is a free group, the group F/[R, R] can be represented as a subgroup of a semidirect product AT, where T is an additive group of a free Z A-module. Shmel’kin genralized this construction and found an embedding for F/V(R), where V(R) is the verbal subgroup of R corresponding to a variety V. Later, he treated F as a free product of arbitrary groups, and on condition that R is contained in a Cartesian subgroup of the product, pointed out an embedding for F/V(R). Here, we combine both these Shmel’kin embeddings and weaken the condition on R, by assuming that F is a free product of groups Ai (ieI) and a free group X, and that its normal subgroup R has trivial intersection with each factor Ai. Subject to these conditions, an embedding for F/V(R) is found; we cell it the generalized Shmel’kin embedding. For the case where V is an Abelian variety of groups, a criterion is specified determining whether elements of AT belong to an embedded group F/V(R). Similar results are proved also for profinite groups.