Rigidity of non-renormalizable Newton maps

Non-renormalizable Newton maps are rigid. More precisely, we prove that their Julia set carries no invariant line fields and that the topological conjugacy is equivalent to quasi-conformal conjugacy in this case

Dynamics of McMullen maps

In this article, we develop the Yoccoz puzzle technique to study a family of rational maps termed McMullen maps. We show that the boundary of the immediate basin of infinity is always a Jordan curve if it is connected. This gives a positive answer to a question of Devaney. Higher regularity of this boundary is obtained in almost all cases. We show that the boundary is a quasi-circle if it contains neither a parabolic point nor a recurrent critical point. For the whole Julia set, we show that the McMullen maps have locally connected Julia sets except in some special cases.Comment: Complex dynamics, 51 pages, 13 figure

Quasisymmetric geometry of the Cantor circles as the Julia sets of rational maps

We give three families of parabolic rational maps and show that every Cantor set of circles as the Julia set of a non-hyperbolic rational map must be quasisymmetrically equivalent to the Julia set of one map in these families for suitable parameters. Combining a result obtained before, we give a complete classification of the Cantor circles Julia sets in the sense of quasisymmetric equivalence. Moreover, we study the regularity of the components of the Cantor circles Julia sets and establish a sufficient and necessary condition when a component of a Cantor circles Julia set is a quasicircle.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figures and 1 table, to appear in Discrete and Continous Dynamical Systems-

Differential Analysis of Gut Microbiota Correlated With Oxidative Stress in Sows With High or Low Litter Performance During Lactation

It has been suggested that gut microbiota play a critical role in maternal metabolic oxidative stress responses and offspring growth. However, whether the gut microbiota and oxidative stress status of the sows affect the litter performance during lactation is unclear. A total of 66 Yorkshire sows were identified as high (H) or low (L) litter performance sows based on litter weight at day 21 of lactation. Ten sows per group with similar parity, backfat thickness, and litter weight after cross-foster from the H or L group were collected randomly to analyze the oxidative stress and gut microbiota during lactation. The result showed that the serum total antioxidant capacity was higher in the H group, while 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were lower in the H group at farrowing. Four distinct clusters of bacteria were related to litter performance and reproductive periods of sows. Twelve differentially abundant taxa during gestation and 13 taxa during lactation were identified as potential biomarkers between the H group and the L group. Moreover, the litter performance and the antioxidant capacity of sows were positively correlated with Bacteroides_f__Bacteroidaceae but negatively with Phascolarctobacterium and Streptococcus. In conclusion, this study found that gut microbiota and oxidative stress were significantly correlated with the litter performance of sows during lactation

Secular trend of the leading causes of death in China from 2003 to 2013

Background: To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and secular trends of the leading causes of death in China.Methods: Data on the leading causes of death was collected from the Statistical Yearbook of China. Data for 11 years, from 2003 to 2013, was analyzed by regression analysis and chi-square test.Results: The top 3 causes of death from 2009 to 2013 were cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and cardiopathy, with the role of cardiopathy increasing over time (P<0.01). The proportion of deaths related to cardio-cerebrovascular diseases in urban and rural areas increased to 41.9% and 44.8%, respectively, in 2013, and was significantly higher than that for cancer, 25.5% and 22.4% (both P<0.01). Injury and poisoning in urban or rural areas represented the fifth leading cause of death. In 2006, endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases were the sixth main cause of death, with 3.3% in urban areas. The role of genito-urinary,respiratory, and digestive system diseases in urban areas and genito-urinary system diseases in rural areas decreased during this period (all P<0.05).Conclusion: Cancer, cerebrovascular disease, and cardiopathy accounted for more than 67% of all deaths from 2007 to 2013 in China, and significantly increased in proportion from 2003 to 2013.Keywords: Causes of death; China; cancer; cardiovascular diseas