Instant and accurate evaluation of drug resistance in tumors before and during chemotherapy is important for patients with advanced colon cancer and is beneficial for prolonging their progression-free survival time. Here, the possible biomarkers that reflect the drug resistance of colon cancer were investigated using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in vivo. SW480[5-fluorouracil(5-FU)-responsive] and SW480/5-FU (5-FU-resistant) xenograft models were generated and subjected to in vivo 1H-MRS examinations when the maximum tumor diameter reached 1–1.5 cm. The areas under the peaks for metabolites, including choline (Cho), lactate (Lac), glutamine/glutamate (Glx), and myo-inositol (Ins)/creatine (Cr) in the tumors, were analyzed between two groups. The resistance-related protein expression, cell morphology, necrosis, apoptosis, and cell survival of these tumor specimens were assessed. The content for tCho, Lac, Glx, and Ins/Cr in the tumors of the SW480 group was significantly lower than that of the SW480/5-FU group (P < 0.05). While there was no significant difference in the degree of necrosis and apoptosis rate of tumor cells between the two groups (P > 0.05), the tumor cells of the SW480/5-FU showed a higher cell density and larger nuclei. The expression levels of resistance-related proteins (P-gp, MPR1, PKC) in the SW480 group were lower than those in the SW480/5-FU group (P < 0.01). The survival rate of 5-FU-resistant colon cancer cells was significantly higher than that of 5-FU-responsive ones at 5-FU concentrations greater than 2.5 μg/mL (P < 0.05). These results suggest that alterations in tCho, Lac, Glx1, Glx2, and Ins/Cr detected by 1H-MRS may be used for monitoring tumor resistance to 5-FU in vivo.

Forests have ecological functions in water conservation, climate regulation, environmental purification, soil and water conservation, biodiversity protection and so on. Carrying out forest ecological quality assessment is of great significance to understand the global carbon cycle, energy cycle and climate change. Based on the introduction of the concept and research methods of forest ecological quality, this paper analyzes and summarizes the evaluation of forest ecological quality from three comprehensive indicators: forest biomass, forest productivity and forest structure. This paper focuses on the construction of evaluation index system, the acquisition of evaluation data and the estimation of key ecological parameters, discusses the main problems existing in the current forest ecological quality evaluation, and looks forward to its development prospects, including the unified standardization of evaluation indexes, high-quality data, the impact of forest living environment, the acquisition of forest level from multi-source remote sensing data, the application of vertical structural parameters and the interaction between forest ecological quality and ecological function.

The sea level rise under global climate change and coastal floods caused by extreme sea levels due to the high tide levels and storm surges have huge impacts on coastal society, economy, and natural environment. It has drawn great attention from global scientific researchers. This study examines the definitions and elements of coastal flooding in the general and narrow senses, and mainly focuses on the components of coastal flooding in the narrow sense. Based on the natural disaster system theory, the review systematically summarizes the progress of coastal flood research in China, and then discusses existing problems in present studies and provide future research directions with regard to this issue. It is proposed that future studies need to strengthen research on adapting to climate change in coastal areas, including studies on the risk of multi- hazards and uncertainties of hazard impacts under climate change, risk assessment of key exposure (critical infrastructure) in coastal hotspots, and cost-benefit analysis of adaptation and mitigation measures in coastal areas. Efforts to improve the resilience of coastal areas under climate change should be given more attention. The research community also should establish the mechanism of data sharing among disciplines to meet the needs of future risk assessments, so that coastal issues can be more comprehensively, systematically, and dynamically studied.

This research aimed to assess the results of two vendors used by the company in the shipping process of export goods. Two leading suppliers for one similar activity had caused more difficulties in the monitoring and controlling activities of DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia. This research used qualitative and quantitative methods, with the Analytic Hierarchy Process decision-making method using 36 internal staff members as the sample. Through a qualitative calculation method by distributing questionnaires to the existing suppliers, namely Monang Sianipar Kargo and Andima Transportindo, it was found that the weighted score for Monang Sianipar Kargo was 22.84 and for Andima Transportindo was 10.66. Subcriteria and indicators should be prioritized in the criteria of Price and service, significantly to improve the performance of problematic suppliers. This research recommended using the Analytic Hierarchy Process for assessment since it facilitated the research development by the opinion of the company’s experts. Such a finding implied that a policy from the management was needed in the assessment of suppliers. As an implication, it was necessary to assess all suppliers cooperating with DHL Global Forwarding Indonesia by using actual data from the current month.