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BackgroundTraditional Korean medicine (TKM) is widely used to treat children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Korea; however, studies investigating factors that influence the use of TKM are scarce. Thus, we investigated the clinical factors that might influence the use of TKM.MethodsA population-based, cross-sectional, multicenter survey was performed from August 2014 to May 2016. The history of TKM use, type and severity of CP, current treatment characteristics, presence of accompanying disabilities or other health problems not directly related to CP, and monthly cost for the treatment of CP were surveyed.ResultsIn total, 182 children were recruited, and 78 children (42.9%) had used TKM. Among these 78 children, 50 (64.1% of the TKM-use group) had used both acupuncture and herbal medication, 15 (19.2%) had used acupuncture only, and 13 (16.7%) had used herbal medication only. Children with non-typical CP, accompanying disabilities and general health problems tended to use TKM. The monthly cost of treatment for CP was significantly higher in the TKM-use group than that in the no-TKM-use group, suggesting that economically disadvantaged children may have difficulty in accessing TKM. Dietary supplements, conventional pharmacological treatments, and rehabilitation therapies did not affect TKM use.ConclusionChildren with non-typical symptoms or those with poor overall health status are likely to use TKM. Additionally, TKM use leads to increased treatment costs. Studies investigating the motivation for starting or ceasing TKM therapy, socioeconomic factors and the attitude of parents towards complementary and alternative medicine should be performed.

The mechanism of the enhancement in the ionic conductivity resulting from cubic phase stabilization in MgO partially stabilized zirconia (MgPSZ) by Mn doping was studied by examining the local Zr-O structure. Cubic phase (14 vol%) in MgPSZ was increased with the addition of MnO 2 , and 10 mol% Mn-doped MgPSZ exhibited the highest cubic phase fraction (98.72%), which was analyzed by Rietveld refinement. In addition, only the cubic phase, not the monoclinic and tetragonal phases, was observed in the TEM-SAED pattern of 10 mol% Mn-doped MgPSZ. Doped Mn exhibited a high Mn 2+ /Mn 4+ ratio, which was identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, it indicates that oxygen vacancy formation by substitution of Mn 2+ in the Zr 4+ site in MgPSZ increased cubic phase fraction. Ionic conductivity of MgPSZ was improved by the cubic phase increase attributed to Mn doping, and 10 mol% Mn-doped MgPSZ exhibited higher ionic conductivity than MgPSZ. To investigate the mechanism of the ionic conductivity improvement, Zr-O local structure in Mndoped MgPSZ was analyzed by Zr K-edge EXAFS of MgPSZ, and the number of bonding of the Zr-O first shell decreased with increased Mn substitution. Therefore, it was considered that the oxygen vacancy generation led to an increase in the cubic phase and the number of ionic conduction sites. K E Y W O R D Sconductivity, manganese/manganese compounds, phase transformations, X-ray methods, zirconia: partially stabilized

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