Most of the examined sediments in ports and harbors exhibited low heavy metal concentrations in contrast to the higher loads on ports breakwaters, where substandard boat maintenance activities, such as repainting, often takes place. The source of the heavy metals is likely from pigments and dyes.Opportunistic selleck products beach nourishment is an attractive method for temporarily alleviating anthropogenic beach erosion. Greece is among the countries with insufficient legislation concerning dredging activities, despite its extremely long coastline. Therefore, a reexamination of the current legislation towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly beach management may be advisable.

AcknowledgmentsThis research has been cofinanced by the European Union (European Social Fund (ESF)) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ��Education and Lifelong Learning�� of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II, investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with colon involvement (both Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)) have a 2.4-fold increased overall colorectal cancer (CRC) risk [1]. CRC accounts for 10�C15% of all deaths in IBD patients, and IBD-related CRC accounts for 1-2% of all CRC cases in the general population [2, 3]. There is general agreement that the risk of developing CRC is associated with the extent of disease in the colon and duration of disease. Whether young age at onset of disease is an independent risk factor is controversial [4, 5].

In IBD patients with inflammation in at least 30% of the colon, colonoscopic surveillance is recommended [6�C9]. Although the effectiveness is limited, it is the best tool available to detect neoplasia at a curative stage and thus lead to a better prognosis [8, 10].A meta-analysis based on a selection of 19UC studies performed between 1961 and 1995 reports a cumulative incidences of CRC of 1.6%, 8.3%, and 18.4% after, respectively, 10, 20, and 30 years of disease [4]. In more recent studies, the cumulative incidences were 0%, 2.5%, and 7.6% in a cohort with 600UC patients [9] and 1.0%, 2.4%, and 4.8% in a follow-up study during 24 years in 4125UC patients [11]. A meta-analysis from Jess et al., including 8 studies from 1995 to 2009, showed overall cumulative colorectal cancer incidence of <1.

0% after 10 years and 1.1%�C5.3% after 20 years of follow-up [1].The decrease in CRC risk seen in more recent studies could be explained by more effective treatment or better colonoscopy techniques to detect abnormalities and enabling endoscopic and surgical intervention before GSK-3 cancer develops [9, 12].Despite a decrease in UC-associated CRC over time, the diagnosis of CRC is delayed or missed in about 20% of IBD patients even when monitored according to guidelines [6].