We show that the median$m$($x$) in the gamma distribution with parameter$x$is a strictly convex function on the positive half-line.

Let Ω⊂ℝ^{$n$}be an arbitrary open set. We characterize the space$W$^{1,1}_{loc}(Ω) using variants of the classical area and coarea formulas. We use these characterizations to obtain a norm approximation and trace theorems for functions in the space$W$^{1,1}(ℝ^{$n$}).

We show that the Luzin area integral or the square function on the unit ball of ℂ^{$n$}, regarded as an operator in the weighted space$L$^{2}($w$) has a linear bound in terms of the invariant$A$_{2}characteristic of the weight. We show a dimension-free estimate for the “area-integral” associated with the weighted$L$^{2}($w$) norm of the square function. We prove the equivalence of the classical and the invariant$A$_{2}classes.

We classify the ordinary differential equations that correspond to elliptic CR-manifolds with maximal isotropy. It follows that the dimension of the isotropy group of an elliptic CR-manifold can only be 10 (for the quadric), 4 (for the listed examples) or less. This is in contrast with the situation of hyperbolic CR-manifolds, where the dimension can be 10 (for the quadric), 6 or 5 (for semi-quadrics) or less than 4. We also prove that, for all elliptic CR-manifolds with non-linearizable isotropy group, except for two special manifolds, the points with non-linearizable isotropy form exactly some complex curve on the manifold.

We obtain integral boundary decay estimates for solutions of fourth-order elliptic equations on a bounded domain with regular boundary. We apply these estimates to obtain stability bounds for the corresponding eigenvalues under small perturbations of the boundary.