By constructing a maximal incomplete d.r.e. degree, the nondensity of the partial order of the d.r.e. degrees is established. An easy modification yields the nondensity of the n-r.e. degrees and of the ω-r.e. degrees.

We show that for any computably enumerable set A and any equation image set L, if L is low and equation image, then there is a c.e. splitting equation image such that equation image. In Particular, if L is low and n-c.e., then equation image is n-c.e. and hence there is no low maximal n-c.e. degree.

We show that the intersection of the class of 2-REA degrees with that of the ω-r.e. degrees consists precisely of the class of d.r.e. degrees. We also include some applications and show that there is no natural generalization of this result to higher levels of the REA hierarchy.