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The sand rose-like NiCoAl-LDH welding on the top of the NiCoMoS nanoneedles exhibited a high energy density of 41.9 W h kg−1 at a power density of 800 W kg−1.

Using a facile direct ink writing technique, highly stretchable graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)/carbon nanotube (CNT)/silicone elastomer (GCE) fiber-shaped strain sensors are successfully prepared with a near-zero temperature coefficient of resistance.

Pressure sensing is highly demanding in wearable devices, robotics, and artificial intelligence, whereas it is still a big challenge to develop a pressure sensor with an excellent linear response in a broad detection range. Herein, a flexible and porous carbon nanotube (CNT)/carbon black (CB)/carbonyl iron powder (CIP)/silicone composite is proposed by a simple strategy of mixing, curing, and washing. Due to the porous structure induced by the sacrifice of sugar particles, an excellent linear response (

This work reports a flexible yet robust Ti3C2Tx MXene/bamboo microfibril (BF) composite paper via a simple vacuum filtration process. Due to the excellent compatibility between MXene and BF, the MXene/BF composite paper demonstrates simultaneously an excellent tensile strength of 49.5 MPa, higher than that of both MXene sheet and BF film alone and also among the top values compared with those in the literature, an excellent electrical conductivity as high as 4.8 × 103 S m−1 which is also higher even at a lower MXene content than those reported in the literature, and outstanding electrical stability with no detectable deterioration after 1000 cycles of stretching, bending and compression. As a result, the MXene/BF composite paper shows versatility for making various high-performance wearable electronics. Specifically, the as-prepared flexible pressure sensor by stacking exhibits a high sensitivity of 0.153 kPa−1 and a linear sensing performance in the pressure range of 0 to 2.5 kPa; the as-fabricated electric heater displays outstanding electrothermal performance, giving a temperature difference of 20 °C in air at the lowest input voltage of 2.5 V compared with those of the literature; the produced wearable symmetric all-solid-state supercapacitor achieves large enhancements in volumetric capacitance and gravimetric capacitance compared with the neat MXene supercapacitor and outstanding energy storage stability upon varied deformations. The MXene/BF composite paper with the above virtues is appealing for wide applications in multifunctional wearable electronics.

Multiresponsive and high-performance flexible actuators with a simple configuration, high mechanical strength, and low-power consumption are highly desirable for soft robotics. Here, a novel mechanically robust and multiresponsive Ti

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) flexible ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors were fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature. The single-layer AZO photodetector has a high photocurrent/dark current ratio and exhibits excellent photoresponse performance under UV illumination. When the tensile strain increases from 0 to 0.33, the photocurrent gradually increases, and the sensitivity and linear dynamic range increase by 10 times and 1.5 times, respectively. Under 23.5 mW/cm2 UV illumination at 4 V bias, the rise time and fall time are 0.2 and 0.3 s, respectively, showing that the AZO flexible UV photodetector has good reproducibility and stability. The energy band diagrams before and after applying tensile strain are analyzed to further study the interface modulation behavior. The results reveal that the piezo-phototronic effect has an important influence on the performance optimization and modulation of flexible UV photodetectors.

Pressure sensors usually suffer from a trade-off between sensitivity and the linear sensing range, which may be improved by manipulating the geometric microstructure of active sensing materials via the molding strategy, standard photolithography technique, and so on. However, these conventional microengineering techniques require specialized equipment, which are extremely complicated, high-cost, and time-consuming to manufacture. Herein, a mold-free, scalable, low-cost, and environment-friendly one-step thermofoaming strategy is proposed to fabricate surface morphology-tunable microdome-patterned composites (MPCs). The microstructured pressure sensor is then prepared by coating the MPCs with highly conductive graphene. Remarkably, the as-prepared pressure sensor presents a better overall sensing performance compared to the previous pressure sensors prepared using complicated microengineering methods. Moreover, an electromechanical response model and finite-element analysis are used to clarify the sensing mechanisms of the present microstructured pressure sensor. Furthermore, several successful application demonstrations are conducted under various pressure levels. Considering the advantages of the one-step fabrication strategy over conventional surface microengineering techniques and the high performance of the microstructured pressure sensor, the present pressure sensor has promising potential applications in health monitoring, tactile sensation, wearable devices, etc.

As an important method to further improve the storage density of resistive memory, multistage resistive switching devices have become an important research direction. However, no stable and controllable multistage resistive switching device has been prepared, and the working mechanism is still unclear. Here, a sandwich-structured device is simply prepared by spin coating, with the work layer is the Bi

Excellent electrical and sensing properties are highly desirable for flexible strain sensors based on conducting polymer composites (CPCs) aimed for wearable devices and soft robotics. Herein, a novel and simple but very effective strategy is developed to significantly enhance the electrical and sensing performance of flexible strain sensor through tailoring the segregated conductive networks (SCNs) of CPCs. First, thermally expanded microspheres (TEMs) are incorporated into CNT/Ecoflex (CE) composites to construct CPCs with unique SCN structures. The internal microstructures of the resultant TEM/CNT/Ecoflex (TCE) composites are further tailored through post-processing, thereby causing the reconstitution of the SCNs and improving their electrical and sensing performance. It is found that the electrical conductivity, percolation threshold, and sensitivity of the TCE composite strain sensor are all effectively improved through tailoring the SCNs. Specifically, the electrical conductivity is increased over 15 times, and the gauge factor (GF) is significantly improved by approximately 2465 times from a value of 176 to an extra-high value of 433992 at the strain of 130%. Finally, various application demonstrations are conducted in human motion monitoring and soft robotics. The post-processing concept introduced here presents a universal technology platform to further advance the electrical and sensing performance of CPCs for practical applications.

Fertilization failure often occurs during in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles despite apparently normal sperm and oocytes. Accumulating evidence suggests that mitochondria play crucial roles in the regulation of sperm function and male fertility. 3-Nitrophthalic acid (3-NPA) can induce oxidative stress in mitochondria, and melatonin, as an antioxidant, can improve mitochondrial function by reducing mitochondrial oxidative stress. The role of sperm mitochondrial dysfunction in fertilization failure during IVF is unclear. The present study revealed that spermatozoa with low, or poor, fertilization rates had swollen mitochondria, increased mitochondria-derived ROS, and attenuated mitochondrial respiratory capacity. 3-NPA treatment enhanced mitochondrial dysfunction in sperm. Spermatozoa with poor fertilization rates, and spermatozoa treated with 3-NPA, had reduced penetration ability. The concentration of melatonin was decreased in semen samples with low and poor fertilization rates. Melatonin, not only decreased excessive mitochondria-derived ROS, but also ‘rescued’ the reduced penetration capacity of spermatozoa treated with 3-NPA. Taken together, the study suggested that mitochondria-derived ROS and mitochondrial respiratory capacity are independent bio-markers for sperm dysfunction, and melatonin may be useful in improving sperm quality and overall male fertility.

Theoretical analysis of the piezoresistive behavior of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based composites is of great importance for understanding the electro-mechanical response of CNT-based composite strain sensors. In this paper, a comprehensive analytical model is developed to predict the electro-mechanical response of conductive CNT-based composite sensors by considering some critical factors, such as CNT dimensions, interphase, nanotube waviness, and dispersion state. To acheive this, stretching-induced changes in electrical resistance are characterized in the model by the variation of CNT content, CNT orientation, and percolated conductive networks. Then the effects of these key factors are systematically examined on the piezoresistive response of CNT-based composite strain sensors and found to play important roles in determining the sensitivity. Moreover, comparisons between modelling predictions and existing numerical and experimental data are made to demonstrate the validity of the developed model. The developed model highlights the physical mechanism and takes full consideration of the key parameters, which can help to gain a deeper understanding of the piezoresistive behavior of CNT-based composite sensors compared with existing modellings. Finally, a meaningful recommendation is made to optimize the design of highly sensitive CNT-based composite sensors.

In predicting the electrical conductivity (EC) of carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer nanocomposites (CPCs), previous analytical models did not simultaneously consider the effects of CNT waviness and dispersion state, which exist inevitably for real CPCs. In this work, an effective and comprehensive analytical model is developed to predict the percolation threshold and the EC of CPCs by taking into account the effects of CNT waviness and dispersion, etc. A detailed investigation of the effects of CNT content, conductivity, size, waviness and dispersion is conducted on the EC of CPCs. In particular, it is shown that both CNT waviness and dispersion play significant roles in determining the composite EC. Moreover, the predicted results agree well with the existing experimental results and display a higher prediction accuracy compared with the previous typical models for predicting the composite EC. Analytical results indicate that a high EC can be achieved for CPCs with CNTs of a high conductivity, a large aspect ratio (AR), a perfect dispersion state and a low degree of waviness.

The electrocaloric effect (ECE) of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) of Y5V type was directly measured via a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method and a reference resistor was used to calibrate the heat flow due to the heat dissipation. The results are compared with those calculated from Maxwell relations by using the polarization data obtained from the polarization–electric field hysteresis loops. The direct method shows a larger ECE temperature change, which is accounted for the situation approaches an ideal condition. For the indirect method using Maxwell relations, only the polarization projection along the electric field was taken into account, which will be less than the randomly distributed real polarizations that contribute to the ECE. The MLCCs exhibit a broad peak of ECE around 80C, which will be favorite for the practical ECE cooling devices.

The present prospective study aimed to evaluate the effects of E6/E7 protein detection by western blotting on cervical cancer (CC) early screening compared with detection by Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test and ThinPrep cytological test (TCT) in a Chinese population. A total of 450 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) suspected samples (positive in ≥1 indicator of TCT and HC2 test) were recruited from women who were treated at the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (Shanghai, China) from March 2014 to February 2015. Each sample was analyzed by cytological test. In addition, human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA examination by Hybrid Capture Tube test and E6/E7 protein expression detection by western blotting were performed in all samples, as well as histologic diagnosis to determine the stage of CIN. The results revealed that, for the diagnosis of CIN2+, although the sensitivity of E6/E7 protein detection was lower than that of HC2 test (71.3 vs. 96.6%, respectively), the specificity was markedly improved (67.6 vs. 5.9%, respectively). Compared with that of TCT, the sensitivity of E6/E7 protein detection was much higher (36.2 vs. 71.3%, respectively), but the specificity was lower (88.2 vs. 67.6%, respectively). In the present study, HPV E6/E7 protein expression was evaluated as a potential new biomarker for CC, with satisfactory diagnostic values for HPV types 16 and 18. The relative diagnostic value may be further improved by combination of E6/E7 messenger RNA detection.

Both relaxor ferroelectric and antiferroelectric materials can individually demonstrate large electrocaloric effects (ECE). However, in order to further enhance the ECE it is crucial to find a material system, which can exhibit simultaneously both relaxor ferroelectric and antiferroelectric properties, or easily convert from one into another in terms of the compositional tailoring. Here we report on a system, in which the structure can readily change from antiferroelectric into relaxor ferroelectric and vice versa. To this end relaxor ferroelectric Pb0.89La0.11(Zr0.7Ti0.3)0.9725O3 and antiferroelectric Pb0.93La0.07(Zr0.82Ti0.18)0.9825O3 ceramics were designed near the antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase boundary line in the La2O3-PbZrO3-PbTiO3 phase diagram. Conventional solid state reaction processing was used to prepare the two compositions. The ECE properties were deduced from Maxwell relations and Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) phenomenological theory, respectively, and also directly controlled by a computer and measured by thermometry. Large electrocaloric efficiencies were obtained and comparable with the results calculated via the phenomenological theory. Results show great potential in achieving large cooling power as refrigerants.

Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 and Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3/Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 double-layered thin films were fabricated via sol-gel process on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The influence of Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 buffer layer on microstructure and electrical properties of Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 thin films were investigated in detail. Well-saturated P-E hysteresis loops can be obtained in Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 films with Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 buffer. The remnant polarization (2Pr) of the double-layered thin films is 112 μC/cm2. The coercive field (2Ec) of double-layered films is 672 kV/cm, which is much lower than that of the Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3 thin films. The leakage current density of Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.97Ti0.03O3/Bi3.15Nd0.85Ti3O12 double-layered thin films is 4.12×10-5 A/cm2.

Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a central proinflammatory cytokine, maintains immune homeostasis and also plays important roles in cervical cancer. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate any associations of IL-6 gene polymorphisms at positions -174 and -572 with predisposition to cervical cancer in a Chinese population. The present hospital- based case-control study comprised 518 patients with cervical cancer and 518 healthy controls. Polymorphisms of the IL-6 gene were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Patients with cervical cancer had a significantly higher frequency of the IL-6 -174 CC genotype [odds ratio (OR) =1.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06-2.19; p=0.02], IL-6 -572 CC genotype (OR =1.91, 95% CI = 1.16-3.13; p=0.01) and IL-6 -174 C allele (OR =1.21, 95% CI = 1.02-1.44; p=0.03) compared to healthy controls. When stratifying by the FIGO stage, patients with III-IV cervical cancer had a significantly higher frequency of IL-6 -174 CC genotype (OR =1.64, 95% CI =1.04-2.61; p=0.04). The CC genotypes of the IL-6 gene polymorphisms at positions -174 and -572 may confer a high risk of cervical cancer. Additional studies with detailed human papillomavirus (HPV) infection data are warranted to validate our findings.

In order to improve the accuracy of correlated noise (CN) model for distributed video coding (DVC), this paper proposes a novel distribution parameter fitting algorithm based on the minimum Euclidean distance. The presented method can obtain the final fitted distribution parameter by using the minimum Euclidean distance to compare the Laplace probability density function (PDF) with the PDF computed utilizing the actual residual frame data. Experiment results show that the proposed distribution parameter fitting algorithm can improve the rate-distortion (R-D) performance of DVC significantly.

Highly c-axis oriented sol-gel Zn"1"-"xCr"xO (x=1%, 2%, 3%, and 5%) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO"2/Si substrates. The effect of Cr content on resistive switching behavior was investigated. It was found that the ratio of the high-resistance state (HRS) to the low-resistance state (LRS) was improved from ~17 to ~7x10^3 with increasing Cr content from 1% to 5%. In addition, resistive switching (RS) memory devices with Pt/Zn"1"-"xCr"xO/Pt structures exhibit uniform RS performances, good retention characteristics (>10h at room temperature (RT)), stable and reversible bipolar resistive switching phenomena without forming process. Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) results suggest that bipolar resistive switching behavior is observed in the polycrystalline Cr-doped ZnO thin films.

V-doped and undoped SrTiO3 (V:STO and STO) thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates were synthesized using a sol–gel method to form metal–insulator–metal (MIM) structures. Coexistence of the bipolar and unipolar resistive switching (BRS and URS) modes in Pt/STO/Pt and Pt/V:STO/Pt structures was observed as a irreversible transition from BRS to URS on adjustment of the compliance current (I comp). Both states were stable and reproducible over 60 cycles, and the maximum operating voltage of the Pt/STO/Pt was reduced from 10 V to 2 V by doping with V. Linear fitting of current–voltage curves suggests that space-charge-limited leakage was the limiting leakage mechanism for these two devices. Based on these results, a switching mechanism based on filament theory is proposed to explain both resistive switching modes.

The electrocaloric effect (ECE) of multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) of Y5V type was directly measured via a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method and a reference resistor was used to calibrate the heat flow due to the heat dissipation. The results are compared with those calculated from Maxwell relations by using the polarization data obtained from the polarization - electric field hysteresis loops. The direct method shows a larger ECE temperature change, which is accounted for the situation approaches an ideal condition. For the indirect method using Maxwell relations, only the polarization projection along the electric field was taken into account, which will be less than the randomly distributed real polarizations that contribute to the ECE. The MLCCs exhibit a broad peak of ECE around 80 °C, which will be favorite for the practical ECE cooling devices.

An efficient authentication planning for XOR network coding is proposed in this paper, which is based on the network lifetime. The lifetime of a network is defined as the number of communication until the first node failure due to energy depletion. The planning aims at balancing the energy consumption of nodes and extending the network lifetime by dynamic adjusting the processing of nodes. Unlike traditional network coding authentication planning, the planning considers the network lifetime as performance index, not the overall energy consumption of network. Experimental results show that the planning can improve the network lifetime when compared with the existing one.

In this paper, we present an adaptive resource optimization scheme for image coding and transmission over wireless channel. In the proposed scheme, system resources related with source coder, channel coder, and transmission amplifier are optimization according to varying channel conditions and input image characteristics. The optimization target is to achieve the distortion minimization of the region of interest (ROI) in received images under the system constraints. Moreover, both unequal error protection (UEP) and unequal transmission power distribution (UTPD) are considered in the presented scheme. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme can significantly improve the quality of ROI in received images compared to equal transmission protection (ETP) scheme.

Acetylcholinesterase is a key enzyme of the animal nerve system. The enzyme is the primary target of organophosphorous (OP) and carbamate (CB) insecticides. The insect AChE is being extensively used in development of new insecticides or in vitro selection of the new designed insecticides, and in pharmacological and toxicological field. Rapid assays using AChE-based methods have been proposed as an efficient and rapid method for the detection of pesticides, especially in many Asian markets. In this study, the acetylcholinesterase gene was cloned from housefly (Musca domestica) susceptible to organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CB) insecticides, and expressed in baculovirus-insect cells system using a bioreactor with oxygen supplementation. The recombinant housefly AChE was purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation and procainamide affinity chromatography, and approximately 0.42 mg of the purified AChE with high biological activity (118.9 U/mg) was obtained from 100 ml of culture solution. The purified AChE was highly sensitive to OP and CBs insecticides. In conclusion, an efficient expression and purification system has been developed for large-scale production of recombinant housefly AChE. The recombinant enzyme is potential to be used for the detection of pesticide residues.

Complementary DNAs encoding two types of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were isolated from the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The type 1 (Bmace1) and type 2 (Bmace2) ORFs are 2052 and 1917 bp in length, respectively. Both the complete ORFs of the Bmaces and C-terminal truncated forms were recombined into the Bacmid baculovirus vector under the control of the polyhedrin promoter and expressed in Trichoplusia ni (Tn-5B1-4) cells. The resulting products exhibited AChE activity and glycosylation of the expressed proteins. An inhibition assay indicated that the ace2-type enzyme was more sensitive than the ace1-type enzyme to inhibition by eserine and paraoxon.

Insecticide resistance in parasitoids is a trait of value for a better integration of biological and chemical controls in certain situations. However, practical use of this trait has been rare and may have been partly hindered by the very low rate of success in artificial selection of insecticide resistance in parasitoids. In this study, we explored the feasibility of promoting selection of resistance to spinosad in the parasitoid Cotesia plutellae by integrating resistance of hosts to the insecticide into the selection process. Five colonies of C. plutellae were established from the same field populations and reared in strains of its host, the diamondback moth, either susceptible or highly resistant to the insecticide. These colonies were exposed to selection by spinosad in larval, pupal or adult stage. Two colonies, which were reared in either susceptible or resistant hosts and exposed to selection at adult stage, developed only marginal levels of resistance after 22 and 28 selection cycles, respectively. A colony that was reared on resistant hosts and exposed to selection at the pupal stage failed to develop resistance after 12 selection cycles. In contrast, a colony that was reared on resistant hosts and exposed to selection at the larval stage inside the host larva developed 21.7-fold resistance after 22 selection cycles, a level of resistance that may enable the parasitoid to survive field application rate. These results demonstrate that exposure of parasitoids to selection pressure at the larval stage harbored by resistant hosts can effectively promote the response to selection by the parasitoids and help produce potentially useful resistant strains of parasitoids for field application.

La melittine, le principal constituant du venin d'abeille, possede toute une gamme de fonctions pharmacologiques. Apis cerana cerana est l'une des especes d'abeilles d'importance economique en Chine. La majeure partie de la recherche scientifique consacree au venin d'abeille a ete faite sur le venin de l'Abeille europeenne, Apis mellifera L. et seules quelques etudes existent pour les autres especes, dont Apis cerana Fabricius. En outre la connaissance de la biologie de la secretion du venin, que ce soit chez A. mellifera ou A. cerana, est tres restreinte. Le but de cette etude est d'etudier l'expression proteique du gene melittine par les analyses suivantes : estimation du nombre de copies du gene dans l'ADN genomique, abondance de l'ARNm de la melittine transcrit a differents stades de developpement et modifications du contenu proteique du reservoir a venin. La longueur totale de l'ADNc de Ac-melt est de 389 pb avec un seul intron de 191 pb dans le genome (Fig. 1). Il n'y a qu'une seule copie du gene melittine (Ac-melt) chez A. cerana (Fig. 2). Pendant la premiere semaine du stade adulte son niveau d'ARNm est eleve et il est faible durant le reste de la vie adulte (Fig. 3). La melittine, ni son precurseur, n'ont pu etre detectes au stade nymphal. Les niveaux de proteine de melittine augmentent rapidement jusqu'a un maximum d'environ 95 μg/ouvriere au cours des 8 a 10 premiers jours de la vie adulte et restent constants durant 20 jours avant de commencer a decroitre doucement (Fig. 4). Le niveau eleve d'ARNm pendant la premiere semaine de la vie adulte peut etre du a l'activite elevee de transcription et/ou a la stabilite de l'ARNm (longevite). On a pu deduire une activite elevee de transcription de la melittine a partir du niveau eleve d'ARNm detecte juste apres l'eclosion. La synthese de la melittine ou de son precurseur au cours de la premiere semaine de la vie adulte, mesuree par les techniques d'ELISA et de Western blot, a ete proportionnelle aux niveaux d'ARN de Ac-melt, suggerant que l'ARNm transcrit est rapidement traduit. On pense donc que l'expression de la melittine est principalement regulee au niveau de la transcription. La difference observee dans le profil d'expression de la melittine entre notre etude et celle de Owen et Pfaff ( 1995) pourrait etre d'ordre methodologique et liee au processus complique de post-traduction de la melittine. Les teneurs en melittine et en venin total d' A. cerana sont inferieures a celles observees chez A. mellifera, ce qui peut revetir une signification biologique. Les ouvrieres d'abeilles n'utilisent leur venin que pour defendre la colonie contre les predateurs et les intrus, gros mammiferes et autres vertebres notamment. Les abeilles chinoises constituent de petites colonies et ont tendance a prendre la fuite lorsqu'elles sont confrontees a des conditions adverses. Cette strategie de survie est differente de celle des abeilles europeennes, qui defendent ferocement leurs grosses colonies lorsqu'elles sont menacees.

Phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) is one of the components of bee venom with a wide range of pharmacological functions. It operates as a major allergen working with other venom components to defend the colony from intruder. In the present study, the cDNA sequence of the Ac-pla(2) gene from cDNA library of the venom gland of Apis cerana was compared with the amplified corresponding region of genomic DNA. The result showed that the Ac-pla(2) gene consisted of four exons and three introns. Southern blot showed that the Ac-pla(2) gene was a single copy per haploid genome. The most active transcription period was during the first 8 days of adults, which correspondingly was the period of sharp increase of PLA(2) protein. ELISA analysis revealed that the PLA(2) was undetectable in pupal stage and the newly eclosed adult, but increased sharply to a maximum of 10-12 mug per honeybee by 8-10 days of adult life, followed by a gradual decrease to 8 mug for the rest of adult life. Transcriptional or post transcriptional regulation is the key step for Ac-pla(2) expression. The early secreted Ac-PLA(2) showed a low degree of post-translational modification; with increasing age, glycosylation was detected by Western blot and glycoprotein staining analysis. Different post-translational modifications were found among different individuals in A. cerana when compared to A. mellifera.

Laboratory selection was conducted for fenvalerate resistance in two colonies of the parasitoid, Cotesia plutellae Kurdjumov, each reared on a different colony of its host, Plutella xylostella (L.), with different level of resistance to the insecticide. In the selection regime the insecticide was applied to the host larvae that harbored the parasitoid larvae. Compared with the unselected parasitoid colony, the parasitoid colony selected with the susceptible hosts acquired 4.5-fold resistance after 14 selection cycles, while the colony selected with the more resistant hosts acquired 13.6-fold resistance after 13 selection cycles. These results demonstrate that parasitoid larvae could be exposed to insecticide selection via the hosts, selection with more resistant hosts could accelerate development of resistance in the parasitoid, and resistance genes selected during larval development could be expressed at the adult stage. This information can help improve selection procedures for insecticide resistance in parasitoids.