On a generalized James constant

We introduce a generalized James constant J(a,X) for a Banach space X, and prove that, if J(a,X)<(3+a)/2 for some a∈0,1], then X has uniform normal structure. The class of spaces X with J(1,X)<2 is proved to contain all u-spaces and their generalizations. For the James constant J(X) itself, we show that X has uniform normal structure provided that , improving the previous known upper bound at 3/2. Finally, we establish the stability of uniform normal structure of Banach spaces.