Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR), defined as the difference between the daily maximum (T_max) and daily minimum (T_min) air temperature, has received considerable attention as an important indicator of climate change. In the present study, we analyse long-term highly homogenized DTR data from 51 Greek stations and investigate their spatiotemporal changes. The long-term temporal changes of DTR revealed mixed patterns with both increasing and decreasing trends over the study period and distinct seasonal differentiations. DTR pattern in Athens has fluctuated since the beginning of the twentieth century, generally following warming and cooling air temperature trends. After the mid-1980s, DTR showed a pronounced decreasing trend at a rate of 0.47 °C/decade in summer (p < 0.01) due to higher warming rates of T_min, suggesting the combined effects of regional warming and urbanization levels.

This pilot study aims to evaluate the impact of climate change on the critical stages of crop growth. Data from agricultural stations in Greece were analyzed to assess the effects of climate change on the country’s agriculture, focusing on areas vulnerable to frost, as identified by the Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organization. The study examined the differences in climate patterns between continental and coastal agricultural regions to determine which areas are more resilient to local climate change. The frequencies of frost events and government subsidies were analyzed. The significance of early spring temperatures and their potential consequences for plant growth and vegetation, if followed by late-frost incidents, was emphasized. The severity and impact of frost events vary depending on the location, vegetation type, and growth stage. The economic importance of frost-sensitive crops, like deciduous fruit trees, citrus, and vines, in Greek agriculture has been highlighted. Given the increasing frequency of adverse weather conditions, the study underscores the need for a resilient and sustainable approach to agriculture, focusing on prevention and adaptation to climate variations.

The prognosis in virtually all solid tumors depends on the presence or absence of lymph node metastases.1-3 Surgical treatment most often combines radical excision of the tumor with a full lymphadenectomy in the drainage area of the tumor. However, removal of lymph nodes is associated with increased morbidity due to infection, wound breakdown and lymphedema.4,5 As an alternative, the sentinel lymph node procedure (SLN) was developed several decades ago to detect the first draining lymph node from the tumor.6 In case of lymphogenic dissemination, the SLN is the first lymph node that is affected (Figure 1). Hence, if the SLN does not contain metastases, downstream lymph nodes will also be free from tumor metastases and need not to be removed. The SLN procedure is part of the treatment for many tumor types, like breast cancer and melanoma, but also for cancer of the vulva and cervix.7 The current standard methodology for SLN-detection is by peritumoral injection of radiocolloid one day prior to surgery, and a colored dye intraoperatively. Disadvantages of the procedure in cervical and vulvar cancer are multiple injections in the genital area, leading to increased psychological distress for the patient, and the use of radioactive colloid. Multispectral fluorescence imaging is an emerging imaging modality that can be applied intraoperatively without the need for injection of radiocolloid. For intraoperative fluorescence imaging, two components are needed: a fluorescent agent and a quantitative optical system for intraoperative imaging. As a fluorophore we have used indocyanine green (ICG). ICG has been used for many decades to assess cardiac function, cerebral perfusion and liver perfusion.8 It is an inert drug with a safe pharmaco-biological profile. When excited at around 750 nm, it emits light in the near-infrared spectrum around 800 nm. A custom-made multispectral fluorescence imaging camera system was used.9. The aim of this video article is to demonstrate the detection of the SLN using intraoperative fluorescence imaging in patients with cervical and vulvar cancer. Fluorescence imaging is used in conjunction with the standard procedure, consisting of radiocolloid and a blue dye. In the future, intraoperative fluorescence imaging might replace the current method and is also easily transferable to other indications like breast cancer and melanoma.

Einleitung: Das duktale Adenokarzinom des Pankreas (PDAC) ist eine fatal verlaufende Erkrankung. Gründe hierfür sind u.a. die späte Diagnosestellung und frühe Metastasierung. Die chirurgische Resektion stellt die einzige kurative Therapieoption dar. In dieser Studie wurde untersucht, ob das Integrin αVβ3 sich zur Früherkennung und für Fluoreszenz-unterstützte chirurgische Ansätze eignen könnte. Methoden: Cre/lox-basierte GEM mit pankreas-spezifischer Aktivierung von KrasG12D mit und ohne zusätzliche Deletion von p53 (Ptf1a^+/Cre Kras^+/LSL-G12D +/- p53^loxP/loxP ; CK und CKP) wurden generiert, die im Alter von 6–8 Wochen präneoplastische PanINs (CK) oder invasive PDAC (CKP) entwickeln. Die Expression von Integrin αVβ3 wurde mittels IHC und Western Blot sowie in vivo mittels Fluoreszenz-markierter Sonde (Integrisense680) und [68Ga]NODAGA-RGD Positron-Emissions-Tomografie (PET) analysiert. Ergebnisse: Die Integrin αVβ3 Expression ist in PanINs und noch deutlich stärker im PDAC verglichen mit normalem Pankreasgewebe erhöht. Mittels Fluoreszenz-gestützter optischer Bildgebung mit Integrisense680 konnten PDAC sehr gut von umgebendem Gewebe differenziert werden. In CK Mäusen mit PanINs zeigten sich fokal erhöhte Signale, gut passend zu PanIN Läsionen. Nicht-invasiv konnten mittels [68Ga]NODAGA-RGD-PET die Tumoren detektiert werden. Zusammenfassung: Die erhöhte Expression von Integrin αVβ3 erlaubt die genaue Darstellung von fokalen PanINs und Tumorgrenzen und wird derzeit in humanen PDAC evaluiert. Der Nachweis von Integrin αVβ3 ist ein vielversprechender Ansatz für unterschiedliche klinische Applikationen wie Früherkennung, Fuoreszenz-gestützte Resektionsansätze, Therapieüberwachung und gegen αVβ3 gerichtete Therapien.

The new global pandemic of COVID-19, declared on 11 March 2020 by the World Health Organization, has already had an unprecedented impact on health and socioeconomic activities worldwide. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States of America and Europe in late September 2020. Compared with other southern countries, such as Greece, where there was a significant increase in cases at the end of October 2020, Northern European countries (Germany, France, Austria, Finland, and Sweden) experienced this second wave of the pandemic earlier in September 2020. To understand the epidemiological behavior of the virus from an environmental perspective, we examined the effects of air temperature, humidity, and wind on the spread of COVID-19 in two of the largest population Regional Units (R.U.) of Greece, namely the R.U. of the Central Sector of Athens in Central Greece and the R.U. of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. We applied Pearson correlation analysis and generalized linear models (GLM) with confirmed COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions from the National Public Health Organization as dependent variables and the corresponding air temperature, humidity, and wind speed from the Greek National Meteorological Service as independent covariates. The study focused on the period from 4 May 2020 to 3 November 2020 to investigate the impact of weather on the spread of COVID-19, in a period where human activities had partially returned to normal after the gradual lifting of the restrictive measures of the first lockdown (23 March 2020). The end date of the study period was set as the date of imposition of a new local lockdown in the R.U. of Thessaloniki (3 November 2020). Our findings showed that COVID-19 ICU admissions in both Regional Units decreased significantly with the temperature (T) and wind speed (WS) increase. In the R.U. of the Central Sector of Athens, this picture is reflected in both the single and cumulative lag effects of meteorological parameters. In the R.U. of Thessaloniki, this correlation was differentiated only in terms of the cumulative lag effect of the average daily temperature, where an increase (+17.6%) in daily confirmed COVID-19 ICU admissions was observed. On the other hand, relative humidity (RH) was significantly associated with an increase in cases in both R.U. This study, in addition to its contribution to the global research effort to understand the effects of weather on the spread of COVID-19, aims to highlight the need to integrate meteorological parameters as predictive factors in surveillance and early warning systems for infectious diseases. The combination of weather and climate factors (e.g., humidity, temperature, wind) and other contagious disease surveillance indicators (e.g., wastewater, geographic and population data, human activities) would make the early identification of potential epidemic risks more effective and would contribute to the immediate initiation of public health interventions and the more rational allocation of resources.