Publications by authors named "H B Zech"

Background: Advancing evidence-based, tailored interventions for substance use disorders (SUDs) requires understanding temporal directionality while upholding ecological validity. Previous studies identified loneliness and craving as pivotal factors associated with alcohol consumption, yet the precise directionality of these relationships remains ambiguous.

Objective: This study aims to establish a smartphone-based real-life intervention platform that integrates momentary assessment and intervention into everyday life.

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Following the (revised) latent state-trait theory, the present study investigates the within-subject reliability, occasion specificity, common consistency, and construct validity of cognitive control measures in an intensive longitudinal design. These indices were calculated applying dynamic structural equation modeling while accounting for autoregressive effects and trait change. In two studies, participants completed two cognitive control tasks (Stroop and go/no-go) and answered questions about goal pursuit, self-control, executive functions, and situational aspects, multiple times per day.

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Alcohol consumption (AC) is a leading risk factor for death, morbidity, and disability worldwide. Gender-specific differences in AC and its moderators, which may serve as markers for preventing severe alcohol use disorders (AUD), showed inconsistent results. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19-related lockdowns on these differences remains unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • Malignancies in the nasopharynx and related areas differ from head and neck squamous cell carcinomas, leading to unique treatment approaches and biology.* -
  • Recent studies presented at the ASCO 2024 Meeting reveal promising advancements in treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), particularly with the use of PD-1 inhibitors and other targeted therapies.* -
  • Key findings include improvement in event-free survival with adjuvant therapies and high remission rates with combined treatments in NPC, as well as effective responses in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with a new combination therapy.*
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Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) negative for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has remained a difficult to treat entity, whereas tumors positive for HPV are characterized by radiosensitivity and favorable patient outcome. On the cellular level, radiosensitivity is largely governed by the tumor cells` ability to repair radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but no biomarker is established that could guide clinical decision making. Therefore, we tested the impact of the expression levels of ATM, the central kinase of the DNA damage response as well as DNA-PKcs and Ku80, two major factors in the main DSB repair pathway non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).

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