Dimension groups (not countable) that are also real ordered vector spaces can be obtained as direct limits (over directed sets) of simplicial real vector spaces (finite dimensional vector spaces with the coordinatewise ordering), but the directed set is not as interesting as one would like, i.e., it is not true that a countable-dimensional real vector space that has interpolation can be represented as such a direct limit over the a countable directed set. It turns out this is the case when the group is additionally simple, and it is shown that the latter have an ordered tensor product decomposition. In the Appendix, we provide a huge class of polynomial rings that, with a pointwise ordering, are shown to satisfy interpolation, extending a result outlined by Fuchs.

We show that any Lipschitz projection-valued function $p$ on a connected closed Riemannian manifold can be approximated uniformly by smooth projection-valued functions $q$ with Lipschitz constant close to that of $p$. This answers a question of Rieffel.

Let $A$ be the inductive limit of a system $$A_{1}\xrightarrow{\phi_{1,2}}A_{2} \xrightarrow{\phi_{2,3}} A_{3}\longrightarrow \cd $$ with $A_n = \bigoplus_{i=1}^{t_n} P_{n,i}M_{[n,i]}(C(X_{n,i}))P_{n,i}$, where $~X_{n,i}$ is a finite simplicial complex, and $P_{n,i}$ is a projection in $M_{[n,i]}(C(X_{n,i}))$. In this paper, we will prove that $A$ can be written as another inductive limit $$B_1\xrightarrow{\psi_{1,2}} B_2 \xrightarrow{\psi_{2,3}} B_3\longrightarrow \cd $$ with $B_n = \bigoplus_{i=1}^{s_n} Q_{n,i}M_{\{n,i\}}(C(Y_{n,i}))Q_{n,i}$, where $Y_{n,i}$ is a finite simplicial complex, and $Q_{n,i}$ is a projection in $M_{\{n,i\}}(C(Y_{n,i}))$, with the extra condition that all the maps $\psi_{n,n+1}$ are \emph{injective}. (The result is trivial if one allows the spaces $Y_{n,i}$ to be arbitrary compact metrizable spaces.) This result is important for the classification of simple AH algebras (see \cite{G5,G6,EGL}. The special case that the spaces $X_{n,i}$ are graphs is due to the third named author \cite{Li1}.

We construct two non-isomorphic nuclear, stably finite, real rank zero $C^\ast$-algebras $E$ and $E'$ for which there is an isomorphism of ordered groups $\Theta\colon \bigoplus_{n \ge 0} K_\bullet(E;\ZZ/n) \to \bigoplus_{n \ge 0} K_\bullet(E';\ZZ/n)$ which is compatible with all the coefficient transformations. The $C^\ast$-algebras $E$ and $E'$ are not isomorphic since there is no $\Theta$ as above which is also compatible with the Bockstein operations. By tensoring with Cuntz's algebra $\OO_\infty$ one obtains a pair of non-isomorphic, real rank zero, purely infinite $C^\ast$-algebras with similar properties.