Biles has called a subring A of the ring C(X) a Wallman ring on X whenever Z(A), the zero sets of function belonging to A, forms a normal base on X in the sense of Frink (1964). In the following, we are concerned with the uniform topology of C(X). We formulate and prove some generalizations of the Stone–Weierstrass theorem in this setting.

Let R be the incidence algebra of a finite partially ordered set T over a commutative noetherian ring A. Then the spectrum of R is homeomorphic to the product (Spec A) x T, where Spec A has the usual Zariski topology and T has the order topology. An explicit construction is given for the structure sheaf of R over its spectrum.

It is known that there is a finite affine (or projective) plane of order n if and only if there is a sharply two-transitive set of permutations of degree n. This paper deals with a generalization of this theorem, in which finite sets are replaced by isolated sets, cardinalities by isols and certain effectiveness conditions are imposed on the two systems involved which are trivially satisfied in the finite case.

Subject classification (Amer. Math. Soc. (MOS) 1970): primary 02F40, secondary 05B25.

The asymptotic behaviour of second-order recurring seequences is studied.

It is shown that every possible spectrum of a Mal'cev definable class of varieties which should occur does occur. It follows that there are continuum many Mal'cev definable classes, a result also obtained by Taylor (1975) and Baldwin and Berman (1976).

An attempt is made to extend the theory of extensions of partial orders in groups to strict partially ordered N-groups. Necessary and sufficient conditions, for a strict partial order of an N-group to have a strict full extension, and for a strict partial order of an N-group to be an intersection of strict full orders, are obtained when the partially ordered near-ring N and the N-group G satisfy the condition (− x) n = − xn for all elements x in G and positive elements n in N.

An approximation method based on a certain Sonnenschein matrix is studied. Results are obtained for approximation in an interval and in the complex plane. A connection between convergence of the approximation process and regularity of the matrix is also discussed.

The structure is determined for the existence of some amicable weighing matrices. This is then used to prove the existence and non-existence of some amicable orthogonal designs in powers of two.

An early extension of Lindeberg's central limit theorem was Bernstein's (1939) discovery of necessary and sufficient conditions for the convergence of moments in the central limit theorem. Von Bahr (1965) made a study of some asymptotic expansions in the central limit theorem, and obtained rates of convergence for moments. However, his results do not in general imply that the moments converge. Some better rates have been obtained by Bhattacharya and Rao for moments between the second and third. In this paper we give improved rates of convergence for absolute moments between the third and fourth.