Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Although its incidence is gradually decreasing, about half of the world's population still get infected. H. pylori infection is responsible for substantial gastrointestinal morbidity worldwide. It is the most common cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as gastric cancer. Since the revision of the H. pylori Clinical Practice Guidelines in 2013, the eradication rate of H. pylori has gradually decreased with the use of classical triple therapy, wherein amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and proton pump inhibitors are administered, for 7 days. According to a nationwide randomized controlled study conducted by the Korean College of Helicobacter and Upper Gastrointestinal Research released in 2018, the intention-to-treat eradication rate was only 63.9%, which was due to increased antimicrobial resistance induced by the use of antibiotics, especially clarithromycin. The update of clinical practice guideline for treatment of H. pylori was developed based on evidence-based medicine by conducting a meta-analysis. The draft recommendations were finalized after expert consensus on three recommendations regarding the indication for treatment and eight recommendations on the treatment itself. These guidelines are designed to provide patients, nurses, medical school students, policymakers, and clinicians with clinical evidence to guide primary care and treatment of H. pylori infection. These may differ from current medical insurance standards and will be revised further, if necessary, based on research-based evidence.

Physicians of all specialties are required to assess abnormal results of liver function tests. Many patients with abnormal results in liver function tests do not have primary liver disease; most of the frequently requested tests are influenced by myriad non-hepatic factors. The most common tests are those for serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and bilirubin. Hepatocellular injury is indicated by abnormally elevated AST and ALT levels compared to the ALP level. Cholestatic injury is indicated by an abnormally elevated ALP level compared to AST and ALT levels. The majority of bilirubin circulates as unconjugated bilirubin, and an elevated conjugated bilirubin level is a marker of hepatocellular or cholestatic injury. Obtaining a detailed medical history, a clinical examination, and optimal interpretation of abnormal results of liver tests can enable the determination of the cause of liver diseases, facilitating their diagnosis and therapy.

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To develop health-functional food ingredients for improvement of diabetes, we examined biological activities, including total contents of polyphenols and flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and inhibition of α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase activities of ethanol extracts from unripe fruit of Momordica charantia L. cultivated in Hamyang, Korea. Ethanol extracts were tested using different ethanol concentrations (0%, 30%, 50%, and 70%) and temperatures (50°C and 70°C). Experimental results showed that total polyphenol and flavonoid contents were achieved concentrations of 7.77 mg/g (tannic acid), 7.66 mg/g (gallic acid), and 10.66 mg/g (rutin). The hydroxyl radical scavenging, ABTS cation radical scavenging, and FRAP activities were 82.19%, 42.82%, and 0.19 under the same conditions, respectively. The highest inhibitory activities of α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase were achieved in the 70% ethanol extract at 70°C. These results will be useful for development of health functional foods for anti-diabetes using 70% ethanol extract from unripe fruit of bitter melon

Al 2 O 3 has a high Young's modulus (380 GPa), a low density (3.98 g• cm-3), good high-temperature mechanical properties, biocompatibility and excellent oxidation resistance. Al 2 O 3 has been used for automotive, aerospace, bio-materials and various industrial applications. Despite its various merits, the low fracture toughness of the material below the brittle-ductile transition temperature has limited its use for wide application. To enhance its fracture toughness, the method commonly utilized has been to make a composite by the addition of a second phase to fabricate nanostructured materials. In the study, nano-powders of Al 2 O 3 and Nb were synthesized during the ball milling according to the reaction(Nb 2 O 5 + 10/3 Al → 2Nb + 5/3 Al 2 O 3). The nanostructured Nb-Al 2 O 3 composite was consolidated within a short time from the milled powders using high-frequency induction heated sintering. The average grain sizes of Al 2 O 3 and Nb in composite sintered at 1400°C were 63 and 250 nm, respectively. The relative density of the Nb-Al 2 O 3 composite was about 99% under the simultaneous induced current and application of 80 Mpa pressure. The fracture toughness and hardness of the composite were about 8.7 MPa• m 1/2 and 1460 kg/mm 2 , respectively. The fracture toughness of the nanostructured Nb-Al 2 O 3 composite was higher than that of monolithic Al 2 O 3 .