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In this study of 19 425 participants, we investigated whether alcohol consumption reduction was associated with lower risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in individuals with chronic heavy alcohol consumption.The absolute abstinence significantly reduced incident AF, but reducing alcohol consumption was not associated with a lower incident AF.The benefit of absolute abstinence for incidence of AF was significantly identified in participants with normal body mass index and without hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, heart failure, stroke, chronic kidney disease, or coronary artery disease.Graphical Abstract

Spin transfer torque Magneto-resistive random access memory (STT-MRAM) is becoming next-generation non-volatile memory, for example, replacement of embedded Flash and static random access memory (SRAM) in logic devices. In semiconductor device manufacturing, the inspection process is very important for yield management. Optical inspection equipment is often used to detect defects in device patterns; however, as for MRAM inspection, it is desirable to detect not only device patterns but also magnetic properties at the same time. The magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) microscope is a 2-D evaluation method for the magnetic property using MOKE. In this article, a high-speed inspection method for evaluating magnetic property called scan MOKE is proposed by combining a MOKE microscope with a time delay integration (TDI) camera, a scan stage, and an electromagnet that enables a position-dependent magnetic field in the scan direction (gradient magnet). This method shows to provide a high-speed evaluation of the magnetic properties based on the thickness and the annealing conditions of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) STT-MRAM.

ObjectiveThe association between proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and gastric cancer related to Helicobacter pylorieradication has not been fully investigated in geographical regions with high risk of gastric cancer. We aimed to evaluate the association between PPIs and gastric cancer in Korea.DesignThis study analysed the original and common data model versions of the Korean National Health Insurance Service database from 2002 to 2013. We compared the incidence rates of gastric cancer after 1-year drug exposure, between new users of PPIs and other drugs excluding PPIs, by Cox proportional hazards model. We also analysed the incidence of gastric cancer among PPI users after H. pylorieradication.ResultsThe analysis included 11 741 patients in matched PPI and non-PPI cohorts after large-scale propensity score matching. During a median follow-up of 4.3 years, PPI use was associated with a 2.37-fold increased incidence of gastric cancer (PPI≥30 days vs non-PPI; 118/51 813 person-years vs 40/49 729 person-years; HR 2.37, 95% CI 1.56 to 3.68, p=0.001). The incidence rates of gastric cancer showed an increasing trend parallel to the duration of PPI use. In H. pylori-eradicated subjects, the incidence of gastric cancer was significantly associated with PPI use over 180 days compared with the non-PPI group (PPI≥180 days vs non-PPI; 30/12 470 person-years vs 9/7814 person-years; HR 2.22, 95% CI 1.05 to 4.67, p=0.036).ConclusionPPI use was associated with gastric cancer, regardless of H. pylorieradication status. Long-term PPIs should be used with caution in high-risk regions for gastric cancer.

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We propose a novel bi-focal metallic Fresnel zone plate (MFZP) with shallow depth-of-field (DOF) characteristics. We design the specific annular slit patterns, exploiting the phase-selection-rule method along with the particle swarm optimization algorithm, which we have recently proposed. We numerically investigate the novel characteristics of the bi-focal MFZP in comparison with those of another bi-focal MFZP having equivalent functionality but designed by the conventional multi-zone method. We verify that whilst both bi-focal MFZPs can produce dual focal spots at 15 μm and 25 μm away from the MFZP plane, the former exhibits characteristics superior to those of the latter from the viewpoint of axial resolution, including the axial side lobe suppression and axial DOF shallowness. We expect the proposed bi-focal MFZP can readily be fabricated with electron-beam evaporation and focused-ion-beam processes and further be exploited for various applications, such as laser micro-machining, optical trapping, biochemical sensing, confocal sensing, etc.