The class of generating functions for completely monotone sequences (moments of finite positive measures on $[0,1]$) has an elegant characterization as the class of Pick functions analytic and positive on $(-\infty,1)$. We establish this and another such characterization and develop a variety of consequences. In particular, we characterize generating functions for moments of convex and concave probability distribution functions on $[0,1]$, and we provide a simple analytic proof that for any real $p,r>0$, the Fuss-Catalan or Raney numbers $\frac{r}{pn+r}\binom{pn+r}{n}$, $n=0,1,\ldots$ are the moments of a probability distribution on some interval $[0,\tau]$ if and only if $p\ge1$ and $p\ge r$.

The nth power of the volume functional Vnof polytopes P in R^n, according to dimensions of the spaces spanned by any nunit outer normal vectors of P, is decomposed into nhomogeneous polynomials of degree n. A set of new sharp affine isoperimetric inequalities for these volume decomposition functionals in R^3 are established, which essentially characterize the geometric and algebraic structures of polytopes.

Using the degeneration formula for Donaldson-Thomas invariants [L-W,MNOP2], we proved formulae for blowing up a point, simple flops, and extremal transitions.

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