Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that results from insufficient secretion or insulin resistance, or both. Insulin secretion deficiency leads to chronic hyperglycemia along with impaired metabolism of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. This study aimed to investigate the TP53 gene SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) rs1042522 genotype and the interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene SNP rs1800795 genotype in DM and control groups. This study was performed on 70 patients with type 1 DM, 100 patients with type 2 DM without related complications, 66 control subjects for type 1 DM, and 95 control subjects for type 2 DM. The control groups were matched regarding age and gender and did not have a familial relationship with the patient groups. All the subjects were residents of Kermanshah, located in the western part of Iran. Polymorphisms of TP53 and IL-6 genes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, and HbA1c were measured using the ELISA and immunoturbidometric methods. The frequency of genotypes  of the TP53 gene codon 72 in type 1 DM and its control group were significantly different (P= 0.013). Likewise, the frequency of genotypes  of the TP53 gene codon 72 was significantly different between type 2 DM and control groups (P <0.001). The frequency of genotypes  of G174C polymorphisms in the IL-6 gene was different between type 1 DM and control group as well as between type 2 DM and its control group, but it was not statistically significant. SNP rs1042522 genotypes in the dominant form (CG + GG vs. CC)  and alleles G vs. C alleles  increased the risk of type 2 DM significantly. There was no significant difference between type 1 and type 2 DM groups and respected control groups regarding the frequency of the IL-6 gene SNP rs1800795 alleles. The G allele of SNP rs1042522 encoding the TP53 gene increases the risk of developing DM in the population of the Kermanshah province, Iran. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common metabolic diseases caused by chronic hyperglycemia associated with abnormalities of the metabolism of lipids, glucose, and proteins. It can lead to defects in the secretion of insulin, function of insulin, or both. Its prevalence is increasing worldwide . Today, The prevalence of type 1 DM has a wide range across various geographical locations. For example, there is evidence that the prevalence of DM is 35 times higher in Finland than in Japan . The higIn type 1 DM, the pancreas does not secrete enough insulin. Although this process usually starts before the age of 30, the process of autoimmune destruction of beta cells of the pancreas can occur at any age , 8. TypeOne of the proteins with tumor suppression properties is the p53 protein. Recently, the relationship between p53 and human body metabolism has become a new goal in studies . P53 andPro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) have an independent relationship with cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, and increased body mass index (BMI) . InterleGiven the importance and evidence presented, it is clear that p53 plays a key role in DM and its severity. In most cases, the activation of p53 leads to more severe DM. For example, this protein is induced and is active in many animal and human cells with DM, and in most cases, the inhibition of p53 decreases the severity of diabetes. On the other hand, the C-174C genotype of the IL-6 gene is associated with insulin resistance. However, the role of the variants of TP53 and IL-6 has not been clarified clearly in DM. There is not enough evidence regarding the role of SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) rs1042522 in the TP53 gene and SNP rs1800795 gene in the IL-6 gene in the development of type 1 and type 2 DM in the western part of Iran. Therefore, we decided to investigate the role of these variants in the development of type 1 and type 2 DM in this area. The study population of this cross-sectional study consisted of patients with types 1 and 2 DM who were residents of the Kermanshah province, located in the western part of Iran. Based on the results of previous studies and the relationship between SNP rs1042522 polymorphisms in the TP53 and SNP rs1800795 gene in the IL-6 gene with diabetes, and considering the frequency of mutation genotypes for each genotype with a 95% confidence interval and a power of 90%, the required sample size was calculated as 170 patients (70 patients with type 1 DM and 100 patients with type 2 DM). In addition to the DM groups, two control groups (one for type 1 DM - 66 subjects and one group for type 2 DM - 95 subjects) were considered. The subjects of control groups were recruited from residents of Kermanshah. The control subjects were matched based on gender and age to the respective DM groups. The samples that were used in this study were extracted from previously approved studies (registration numbers 94254 and 94094) at the Diabetes Center of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences and were located at the Taleghani Hospital and Mehr Pathobiology Laboratory. Informed consent was obtained from the patients. DNA extraction from blood samples of the subjects was done and collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-containing tubes by the phenol-chloroform method. The concentration of the extracted DNA was measured using the NanoDrop ™ spectrophotometer system.Descriptive indices, including frequency and percentage, were used to describe categorical variables. The Chi-squared test was used to compare frequency distribution between DM and control groups. Continuous variables are presented by mean (standard deviation), and a comparison of these variables between the groups was made using independent samples t-test. A total of 331 subjects were included for the final analysis. The frequency distribution of the included patients in four studied groups and demographic characteristics of the subjects studied are presented in The frequency occurrence of genotypes  of the TP53 gene SNP rs1042522 in the studied groups is presented in The results showed that SNP rs1042522 genotypes in the dominant form (CG + GG vs. CC)  and G vs. C alleles  increased the risk of type 1 DM, but were not statistically significant. In addition, SNP rs1042522 genotypes in the dominant form (CG + GG vs. CC)  and G vs. C alleles  increased the risk of type 2 DM significantly.The frequency occurrence of genotypes  of the IL-6 gene SNP rs1800795 in the studied groups is presented in The results showed that SNP rs1800795 genotypes in the dominant form (GC + CC vs. GG)  and C vs. G alleles  increased the risk of type 1 DM, but were not statistically significant. In addition, SNP rs1800795 genotypes in the dominant form (GC + CC vs. GG)  and C vs. G alleles  increased the risk of type 2 DM, but this was not statistically significant.The aim of this study was to determine the role of SNP rs1042522 variants of the TP53 gene and SNP rs1800795 variants of the IL-6 gene in types 1 and 2 DM in western Iran. The obtained results showed that the frequency of the GG genotype of SNP rs1042522 genotype was more prevalent in DM groups than in control groups. Also, the frequency of CG + GG genotype was higher among DM patients compared to control subjects. Furthermore, the frequency of the G allele was higher in DM groups than in control groups. In the present study, it was found that individuals carrying at least one copy of the G (CG or GG) allele had a risk of 0.86 to develop type 1 DM in comparison to the CC genotype. The CG + GG genotype increased the risk of type 1 DM by 1.973 times compared to the CC genotype. There were significant differences regarding genotype frequency between DM and control groups, but no significant difference was seen regarding the risk and SNP rs1042522 allele between the DM and control groups.A previous study showed that a significant difference existed regarding the distribution of SNP rs1042522 genotypes between type 1 DM and control group in 281 children with type 1 DM and 730 healthy subjects in the Italian population. The GG genotype seems to increase the risk of type 1 DM, while the CC genotype protects against it . The resIn the current study, the frequency distribution of the GG genotype from SNP rs1042522 was higher in the patient group compared to the control group. Also, the frequency of the CG + GG genotype in the DM group was higher compared to the control group. In a former study conducted on 273 people with type 2 DM and 237 healthy people in China, it was noted that the frequency distribution of SNP rs1042522 genotypes was significantly different between patients with type 2 DM and the control group. It was stated that the G allele is likely to increase the apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells and insulin secretion . The reset al. showed that rats with the GG genotype (arginine) had less resistance to weight gain than those with the CC (proline) genotypes, which resulted in increased insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes development [et al. concluded that the genotype GG (arginine) SNP rs1042522 of the P53 gene is a potent inducer of apoptosis. The increase in p53 in the adipose tissue causes insulin resistance. However, there was no significant difference between diabetes patients and the control group, which contradicts the current findings [Che-Pei Kung elopment . In a stfindings .In a former study conducted on 235 people with type 2 DM and 255 healthy subjects in the Italian population, it was shown that people with the C (GC + CC) allele had higher resistance to insulin compared to those who have the G (GG) allele. However, there was no significant difference between the DM group and the control group . The reset al. found that those with homozygous C (CC) genotype showed the highest susceptibility to DM development in 213 diabetic patients and 147 healthy subjects among North Indian populations. Also, the frequency distribution of SNP rs1800795 genotypes of the IL-6 gene was significantly different between the patients and the control group [Ghavimi and colleagues concluded that the frequency distribution of SNP rs1800795 genotypes of IL-6 gene between patients and control group was not significant in 120 people with diabetes and 120 healthy subjects from Isfahan, Iran. They concluded that this SNP does not cause diabetes in the population of Isfahan . These ool group , which iOur findings showed that the SNP rs1042522 variant of the TP53 encoding gene was significantly different between DM and control groups. Patients with type 1 and 2 DM who are carriers of the G allele from SNP rs1042522 encode TP53 had a higher risk of DM. The SNP rs1800795 variant of the IL-6 encoding gene differed in the control group of type 1 and type 2 patients but did not differ significantly. Patients with type 1 and type 2 DM of SNP rs1800795, an IL6-encoding gene, increase the risk of DM. Due to the lack of association between IL-6 174G/C in this study, it is suggested that other polymorphisms of this gene are also examined, and studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted. Meanwhile, the measurement of serum levels of the TP53 and IL-6 gene can be investigated to determine their association with DM.This article is based on a thesis submitted to the graduate office in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MSc in Clinical Biochemistry by Ramin Sabzi at the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. Financial support was given by the Research Council of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (Grant number: 96038).The approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences .The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.


It is found that changes in surface characteristics conditioned by such modification lead to an increase in the limiting current density due to the stimulation of electroconvection, which develops according to the mechanism of electroosmosis of the first kind. The greatest increase in the current compared to the pristine membrane can be obtained by modification with the film being 20 μm thick and containing 3 wt% of TiO2. The sample containing 6 wt% of TiO2 provides higher mass transfer in overlimiting current modes due to the development of nonequilibrium electroconvection. A 1.5-fold increase in the thickness of the modifying film reduces the positive effect of introducing TiO2 nanoparticles due to (1) partial shielding of the nanoparticles on the surface of the modified membrane; (2) a decrease in the tangential component of the electric force, which affects the development of electroconvection.One way to enhance mass transfer and reduce fouling in wastewater electrodialysis is stimulation of electroconvective mixing of the solution adjoining membranes by modifying their surfaces. Several samples were prepared by casting the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer film doped with TiO The broader use of electro-membrane technologies for separation, concentration, and isolation of valuable substances from wastewater and liquid media of the food industry is constrained by fouling which is an accumulation of mineral and organic pollutants on the surface and in the volume of ion-exchange membranes ,2,3,4. FNowadays, due to the works of Dukhin, Mishchuk ,11, Rubii ≤ ilim; ilim is the limiting current). In this case, the electrical double layer (EDL) at the membrane/depleted solution boundary is (quasi) equilibrium. The structure of the diffuse part of the EDL retains the Boltzmann distribution of ions which is shifted by an imposed external field [i << ilim, and also in the growth of the experimentally determined limiting current compared to that calculated by the convective-diffusion model [Both EC-I and EC-II can be of two kinds currently known. (Quasi) equilibrium EC develops at low currents/voltages , a nonequilibrium EC [In overlimiting current modes . Currently, these dopants are mainly introduced into the pores of membranes and are widely used to increase their conductivity at low relative humidity in the fuel cells [2-doped films on the surface increases the fouling resistance of the ultrafiltration, osmosis, and ion-exchange membranes [Thus, the development of EC is facilitated by electrical ,28,29,30el cells ,37,38,39el cells ,41. Receembranes ,43,44. FThe aim of this work is to study the development of electroconvection as a function of the titanium oxide mass fraction in a perfluorosulfonic acid polymer film that modifies the surface of a heterogeneous cation-exchange membrane.We hope that in the future, such a modification method can be used to create a new generation of ion-exchange membranes that are resistant to sedimentation and fouling during electrodialysis processing of liquid media of the food industry and natural waters.Commercial heterogeneous cation-exchange MK-40 membrane  is used as the substrate for preparing the modified membrane samples. The MK-40 membrane is produced by hot pressing of a mixture of polyethylene (inert binder) and powdered KU-2 ion-exchange resin (styrene-divinylbenzene sulfonated copolymer) and contain fixed sulfonic acid functional groups. Most of the surface (more than 80%) of the MK-40 membrane is non-conductive . Grains The modified membranes were prepared by forming a thin homogeneous film on the MK-40 membrane surface by casting an LF-4SK solution , containing a certain amount of titanium oxide particles. The LF-4SK is a solution of tetrafluoroethylene copolymer with sulfonated perfluorovinylether in isopropyl alcohol. Solvent evaporation gives a film identical to the MF-4SK membrane, a Russian analogue of the Nafion membrane. To prepare the modifier, the required amount of titanium butoxide  was added to the LF-4SK solution, then the modifier was placed in an ultrasonic bath PSB-2835-05  to disperse the formed particles.21 sample, an LF-4SK solution containing no titanium oxide particles was used. The MK-4021 membrane was used as a reference sample to detect the effect of titanium oxide particles. The characteristics of the commercial and modified membranes are given in Modification of the membranes was carried out according to a method similar to that described in . Before The electrochemical characteristics, the current-voltage curves, chronopotentiograms, and impedance spectra of the studied membranes were obtained using the experimental setup shown in 5 Hz. From the values of the real (ReZ) and imaginary (ImZ) components of the impedance of the membrane system obtained at a given frequency and at a given direct current density, the corresponding values (ReZ and ImZ) obtained at zero direct current (i = 0 A) were subtracted. This data processing allows one to exclude from consideration (1) the contribution of the measuring electrode system impedance to the studied membrane system impedance, (2) the ohmic resistance of the membrane and the response of the membrane system to the alternating current bias . In preliminary experiments, it was shown that in the studied direct current range, polarization phenomena do not significantly affect the impedance of the measuring electrodes. The advantage of such processing of the impedance spectra is the reduction of errors, which occur as the result of electrochemical cell reassembling to determine the impedance of the measuring electrode system.To measure the electrochemical impedance spectra, the closed silver chloride measuring electrodes (immersed in the saturated KCl solution) used in the ChP and CVC measurements were replaced by open silver chloride electrodes (immersed in 0.02 M NaCl solution). It takes about 2 h to get one spectrum. Before recording the complex impedance, the membrane was preliminarily held for 40 min at a given direct current density. Then alternating current was applied. The time required to achieve a quasistationary state at a given frequency was determined automatically by the Autolab PGSTAT-100 complex. Impedance spectrum recording starts at a low frequency equal to 0.003 Hz and ends at a frequency equal to 5 × 103 to 1.3 × 105 Hz) dominates the impedance spectrum obtained at zero direct current and presented in Nyquist plot. It characterizes the membrane and interphase boundaries [Z axis corresponds to the ohmic resistance of the membranes RΩ [Z, fmax, allows one to estimate the effective electric capacitance C of the membrane/solution interface by the formula [Zmax is the maximum value of the imaginary impedance component at the high-frequency arc. This capacitance includes the capacitances of the EDLs on the membrane/solution boundaries, as well as the capacity caused by the asymmetry of the depleted and enriched diffusion boundary layers DBLs, which occurs when a direct electric current flows.As a rule, the high-frequency arc ,49 C=12Z axis gives the ohmic resistance of the diffusion layers. The appearance of the Gerischer arc in the medium-frequency range of the spectrum (10–103 Hz) indicates the presence of an intense chemical reaction at the membrane/solution interface, namely, the generation of H+ and OH– ions, catalyzed by fixed groups of membranes [Z axis gives information on the contribution of each of the phenomena  to electrochemical characteristics of the studied membrane systems [If the applied direct current is greater than zero, taking into account the experimental data processing mentioned above, the intercept by the high-frequency arc on the Reembranes . The lowembranes . The rat systems .The experiments are conducted at a constant temperature of 25 ± 1 °C.The concentration dependence of membrane conductivity is measured by the differential method using a clip-type cell ,57 and aThe experimental investigation of the concentration dependence of diffusion permeability was conducted at the same NaCl concentrations. The measurements were carried out using two-compartment cell and conductivity meter Expert 002  .The thickness of studied membranes was measured using a digital micrometer Schut Filetta .θ) of the membranes under study were measured using the sessile drop technique [The contact angles (echnique  describeb (μm), characterizes the roughness and is measured by moving the objective and focusing on them, the focal length of the system being the same.The surface roughness of the studied membranes was determined by using an optical microscope SOPTOP CX40M . The surface of a membrane is shaped of so-called “hills” and “valleys”, corresponding to the highest and lowest areas of the membrane relief. The difference between these two extreme forms of the membrane surface shape, parameter The results of the contact angle measurements are presented in 21). This is attributed the less roughened surface of the modified membranes. Indeed, according to Wenzel [As expected, perfluorosulfonic acid polymer casting onto the surface of the heterogeneous substrate MK-40 membrane leads to an increase in hydrophobicity of the surface that results in the higher value of contact angle  results in increasing hydrophilicity of the membrane surface with increasing TiO2 mass fraction due to hydrophilic properties of the particles [Adding the titanium dioxide nanoparticles into the modifying film  and increases noticeably after inserting TiO2 particles into this film (samples MK-4021+3% and MK-4021+6%). Note that this increase is observed if the thickness of the modifying film remains almost constant. In the case where the thickness of the PFSA polymer film increases by 1.5 times (samples MK-4033+3% and MK-4033+6%), the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles to it practically does not lead to changes in the effective capacitance of the interphase boundary. It is known from studies in the field of electrode kinetics that the capacitance of the interphase boundary increases with increasing electric charge of the dense part of the electric double layer [21 sample with an ion-conducting film leads to an increase in its electric charge in comparison with the substrate membrane (MK-40 sample), about 80% of which is occupied by inert polyethylene [21+3%) increases the charge of the membrane/solution interface. A further increase in the percentage of nanoparticles in the modifying film leads to an increase in the roughness of the modifying film/depleted solution interface, as well as a reorientation of the side chains of PFSA polymer with sulfone fixed groups towards charged nanoparticles. The result of this reorientation is “repulsion” to the surface of the main chains of the modifying material that do not have an electric charge. Similar phenomena are discussed in the works [33+3% and MK-4033+6%), the reorientation of the side chains becomes crucial. Therefore, the introduction of nanoparticles does not lead to noticeable changes in the effective capacitance of the interphase boundary. To make sure our assumptions are correct, in the future we plan to conduct a direct measurement of the charge of the samples under study.The application of a modifying film practically does not change the ohmic resistance of the studied membranes, but noticeably affects the effective electric capacitance of their interphase boundary . This cale layer ,62. Appaethylene ,28,46. The works ,64. Appa+ ion in conditions of the absence of diffusion. To evaluate the P* and κ* are the diffusion permeability and the electrical conductivity of the membrane, respectively; c is the concentration of the electrolyte solution; F, R, and T have their usual meanings. Using the experimentally determined values of electrical conductivity and diffusion permeability the counterion transport numbers in the studied membranes are calculated and presented in +) transport number are approximated and extrapolated to the region of lower concentration (0.02 M), which corresponds to the measurements of the electrochemical characteristics . As a result, the values of the conterion transport number in the studied membranes at this concentration are virtually the same and equal to 1. An important parameter characterizing the membrane permselectivity is the counterion transport number, ionship, :(2)t-*=1out) and inlet (pHin) solution passing through the desalination compartment (DC) of the electrodialysis cell, ΔpH (ΔpH = pHout − pHin), as functions of reduced potential drop, ∆φ’. This is a potential drop between the Luggin’s capillaries, from which the ohmic component is subtracted. The exact definition of ∆φ’ is given in the −2  is due to the tangential transport of salt from non-conductive regions to conductive ones, as well as due to electroconvection. The latter is stimulated by the “funnel effect” described by Rubinstein et al. [From these data it follows that in the case of the MK-40 substrate membrane the value n et al. , that isn et al. . 2 into the PFSA polymer film (sample MK-4021+3%) stimulates the development of all types of EC. Indeed, the 21 samples. Apparently, this is facilitated by an increase in the electric charge while maintaining a rather high degree of hydrophobicity of the MK-4021+3% sample surface , the streamlines remain sufficiently curved to stimulate the increase in the tangential component of the electric force at the modifying film/depleted diffusion layer (33+3% and MK-4033+6% samples) apparently weakens the curvature of streamlines in the near-membrane layer of the solution, thereby reducing the tangential component of the electric force  ions [op, ∆φ’,  is used H–) ions . A numbeH–) ions ,35. Smal21+3% and MK-4033+3% samples. These results are consistent with voltammetry data , which depends on the degree of polarization caused by direct current [I. The values decrease in the same series in which the ability of membranes to stimulate EC increases: MK-40 > MK-4033+6% ≥ MK-4033+3% > MK-4021+3% > MK-4021+6% ≈ MK-4021. The appearance of the Warburg impedance arc is caused by the time delay of changes in the electrolyte concentration in the quasi-electroneutral layer of the solution adjacent to the membrane in response to the alternating current bias [Z axis . Appareφ’. The MA-41 membrane contains a certain amount of secondary and tertiary amines, whose catalytic activity with respect to the water dissociation reaction is quite high [33+6% surface is close to that observed on the MK-40 substrate membrane. The lowest water splitting rate occurs in the case of MK-4021 and MK-4021+6% samples. As already mentioned, the cause of the decrease in water splitting is electroconvection, which shifts intensive water splitting to the range of higher potential drops.Nevertheless, this water splitting at the cation-exchange membrane/solution interface, affects the pH difference at the outlet and inlet of the desalination channel, which is formed by the studied cation-exchange membranes and the MA-41 anion exchange membrane. This follows from ite high ,77. The 2 nanoparticles.The surface of the MK-40 heterogeneous cation-exchange membrane was modified with a Nafion-type PFSA polymer film containing TiO+) close to 1. Introduction of TiO2 nanoparticles (from 3 to 6 wt%) into the modifying film leads to an increase in surface charge while maintaining a sufficiently low degree of its hydrophilicity.It was shown that such modification does not affect the selectivity of the obtained samples. All of them, like the MK-40 substrate membrane, are characterized by counterion transport numbers  partial shielding of the nanoparticles on the surface of the modified membrane; (2) a decrease in the tangential component of the electric force, which affects the development of electroconvection.The above results are achieved with a thickness of the modifying film equal to 20 μm. A 1.5-fold increase in the thickness of this film reduces the positive effect of the introduction of TiOThe tested relatively simple method of surface modification of commercial membranes can be used to increase mass transfer and increase their resistivity to sedimentation and fouling in the processes of electrodialysis processing of natural water and liquid media of the food industry.


Harmonious functioning of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is crucial to the correct operation of the masticatory system, which makes ideal positioning of the condyle in the TMJ clinically important . The joiThis study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Dankook University Dental Hospital (DUDH IRB 2015-12-022).CBCT data were obtained for 60 patients admitted to the Orthodontics Divisions in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology at Dankook University. The CBCT data of 60 patients with malocclusion were obtained in the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format from a CBCT scanner . The DICOM files were imported into Mimics software  for constructing 3D models of the skull. Since the joint space corresponds to an empty space, the Mimics files of the 3D-reconstructed skulls were imported into Freeform software  to allow accurate measurements to be made. Areas corresponding to the condyle, fossa, and joint space were cropped out, and the area corresponding to the joint space was filled to construct a 3D model. We reconstructed the CBCT data of patients with malocclusion of classes I, II, and III as 3D models and measured the joint space at different locations to facilitate comparisons of the spatial properties of the TMJ P=0.002 on the left, and χ2=7.868 and P=0.020 on the right), superior joint space (SJS) , and lateral joint space (LJS) . A significant interclass difference was observed for the left medial joint space (MJS) . A post-hoc Mann-Whitney U test adjusted using the Bonferroni correction method revealed significant differences in the left and right AJS, SJS, LJS, and left MJS measurements  (χ2=12.473 and urements .The joint space is constituted empty space using 3D models . However


The transport sector, including air transport, represents an important source of air pollution. The present article deals with the current situation regarding greenhouse gas emissions in the air in 27 European Union (EU-27) member states. Every member state is characterized by selected parameters that determine the unique nature of a particular country  per capita, etc.). In addition to these parameters, there were also other parameters which were monitored as they characterize the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of aviation on these emissions. The main purpose of the article is to compare the European Union member states on the basis of 15 examined parameters. The identification of similarities between the EU-27 member states with regard to the selected parameters was carried out by applying principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis. The average linkage method was applied to create a dendrogram representing the similarities between the examined member states. The value of the cophenetic correlation coefficient CC = 0.923 confirmed the correct application of the average linkage method. The cluster analysis outputs were five similarity-based homogeneous groups (clusters) into which the 27 member states were divided on the basis of the examined variables. Every year, more than 400,000 Europeans die early due to poor air quality, and many others suffer from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases caused by air pollution . From an2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)).Low air quality and climate change are closely related to elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere  or indirectly  affect both human health and various ecosystems.2 equivalents [According to , greenhoivalents . In ordeivalents ,5,6,7. TDespite the efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and in view of the existing standards, the majority of the EU population does not live in a healthy environment . ExposurThere are various sources of air pollution, i.e., the sources of emissions. The important ones include air transport, which significantly affects the greenhouse gas emissions. According to , in 2017The ecological effects of the transport sector on the environment are negative and often irreversible . That isThe percentage of all transport sector contributions to the production of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-27 in the period from 1990 to 2017 increased by 10% . AccordiArticle  presentsKoscak et al.  focused The general efforts aimed at maintaining air quality represent a topic studied by many experts (scientists and organizations). Jakubiak  analyzedVichi et al.  conducteAccording to , aircraf2O emissions reduction. The authors of [The methods of multidimensional statistical analysis are used in many research areas, such as medicine, biology, psychology, technical sciences, etc. A multidimensional statistical analysis was applied within the examination of correlations between the N2O emissions and the online operational variables  in the biological removal of nitrogen from wastewater . Belandithors of  used multhors of  combinedthors of . A combithors of . When cothors of  used the2 and approximately 437 million inhabitants. The main purpose of the European Union is to provide Europe with remarkable economic growth, a competitive economy and improvement of environment quality.The European Union currently includes 27 member states , with thIn order to compare the 27 European Union (EU-27) member states, we selected several parameters (A1–A15). Each country is characterized by its population (A1) and area in km2 (A2). The gross domestic product per capita (A3) represents one of the key indicators of the quality of life. Healthy life years (A4) and life expectancy (A5) represent important indicators of the public health in each country.Concerning the purpose of this article—monitoring the impact of aviation on greenhouse gas emissions—more parameters were determined for the countries in question: the number of commercial airports with more than 15,000 passengers per year (A6), the total number of aviation passengers (A7), the total number of aviation goods (A8), the total greenhouse gas emissions in thousand tonnes (A9) and the amount of aviation greenhouse gases in thousand tonnes (A10). In addition to the total greenhouse gas emissions in thousand tonnes, the monitoring also focused on the amounts of individual aviation greenhouse gas emissions in thousand tonnes .Public health is also endangered by solid particles in the air. The monitored parameters were therefore supplemented with the total amount of PM2.5 particulate matter in the air (A15) in tonnes.The analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions in the air was carried out applying the basic statistical methods and multidimensional statistical methods: principal component analysis (PCA) and a cluster analysis.Principal component analysis belongs to the elementary methods of a multidimensional analysis. The purpose thereof is to reduce the number of correlated variables to the principal components with the least possible loss of information ,39. The k examined variables. Each of the new variables  k variablesLet I is the unit matrix, 0 is the zero matrix and Vector The equation is referred to as the characteristic equation of matrix The first principal component An appropriate number of principal components may be determined applying several methods. In practice, the Kaiser–Guttman rule is applied; it takes into consideration all the eigenvalues higher than 1. Another rule recommends considering only those principal components which explain 70% to 90% of the cumulative variance .The PCA method may also be used for the detection of outliers which must be, in some cases, excluded from the subsequent analysis. This method is a useful tool for the categorization of objects into clusters.A cluster analysis is a statistical method that belongs to multidimensional statistical methods. Its purpose is to group the monitored objects into certain similar, homogenous groups—clusters. The graphical representation of these groups is a dendrogram. Depending on the clustering method, the procedures are divided into hierarchical and nonhierarchical methods ,41.The use of hierarchic clustering methods is based on the gradual grouping of objects, from the most similar ones to the most different ones. At the first level, each object forms a single cluster. In the following step, the most similar clusters are again grouped. At the last level, all objects are grouped into a single cluster.As for the hierarchical methods, the ones that are most frequently used include the nearest neighbor method, the furthest neighbor method, the average linkage method, the centroid method, the median method and Ward’s method.n objects, each characterized with k variables. The distance may be expressed using the Euclidean distance:th variable for the ith object, and th variable for the jth object.The clustering is performed using various degrees of similarity between the objects, including the distance between two objects. Let us have D between two objects (each object represented a single cluster) is calculated. The matrix D is then used to find two clusters with the minimum distance, which are grouped into one cluster. This process is repeated until all the objects are grouped into a single cluster. When the average distance method is applied, two clusters are combined into a new cluster if they exhibit the average minimum distance.Within the first clustering, the matrix of distances The graphical output of the clustering is a hierarchic tree, referred to as a dendrogram. All the data were evaluated and the results were obtained using the R-package program.analyze aviation’s contribution to the production of greenhouse gas emissions in the air of the EU-27 member states;compare the EU-27 member states in terms of the impact of aviation on greenhouse gas emissions and other parameters that characterize a particular country by applying the PCA method and a cluster analysis.The research was carried out with the objective to:Air pollution from aviation is also discussed in the Transport Policy White Paper of the EU . In 2017The most significant increase in transport intensity has been observed in air transport. Despite improvements in fuel consumption, the aircraft emissions are expected to reach 7-fold or even 10-fold the 1990 value by 2050. This increase in greenhouse gas emissions from aviation and maritime transport was largely caused by an increase in transport intensity. The number of aviation passengers in the EU has tripled since 1993 .The percentage of aviation’s contribution to the development of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in 2017 is shown in In individual EU member states, in the years 2012 to 2018, there were changes in the amount of the total greenhouse gas emissions . The greIn the years 2012 to 2018, the total greenhouse gas emissions from aviation also exhibited some changes . In almoIn 2018, out of all EU member states , weak correlation (0.30 < |r| < 0.49), moderate correlation (0.50 < |r| < 0.79) and strong correlation .When analyzing and evaluating the data, the first step was to identify whether the input variables correlated, i.e., whether they exhibited any relationships. As the monitored variables were measured in different units, the relationships between them were identified using the correlation matrix . The rel2 emissions (A11) and aviation share of total GHG emissions (A10) (r = 0.99), amount of aviation transported goods (A8) and aviation share of HFC emissions (A14) (r = 0.96), aviation share of total GHG emissions (A10) and aviation share of HFC emissions (A14) (r = 0.93), aviation share of CO2 emissions (A11) and aviation share of HFC emissions (A14) (r = 0.93), aviation share of total GHG emissions (A10) and amount of aviation transported goods (A8) (r = 0.90), aviation share of CO2 emissions (A11) and amount of aviation transported goods (A8) (r = 0.90), aviation share of CO2 emissions (A11) and number of aviation transported passengers (A7) (r = 0.86), aviation share of total GHG emissions (A10) and number of aviation transported passengers (A7) (r = 0.86), total greenhouse gas (A9) and number of aviation transported passengers (A7) (r = 0.86), total greenhouse gas (A9) and amount of aviation transported goods (A8) (r = 0.85) and number of commercial airports with more than 15,000 passengers per year (A6) and population (A1) (r = 0.87). Due to the fact that there were relatively strong relationships between many pairs, new independent variables were identified by applying the method of principal component analysis (PCA). This method facilitated replacing the original variables with new, independent variables—the principal components.The results of the correlation matrix indicated that there were very strong correlations, for example, between aviation share of COThe principal components were identified using the eigenvalues shown in The number of principal components was identified by applying the Kaiser–Guttman rule. We considered the components with eigenvalues higher than 1. This means that the identification of new variables was carried out using the first three principal components, which together covered almost 78.5% of the cumulative variance in the data.The eigenvector coefficients, i.e., the component matrix, for the first three principal components are listed in The graphical representation of the data for the original attributes in the coordinate system of one principal component in relation to the second principal component is shown in The plot indicates that France and Germany, when compared to other EU-27 member states, seem to be the outliers. Similarly, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain also exhibited marked differences from the other member states.The member states with similar monitored characteristics were grouped by applying a cluster analysis. Agglomerative hierarchical methods were gradually applied: average linkage clustering, nearest neighbor algorithm, Ward’s method and median clustering. The distance measure was the Euclidean distance, which is the most frequently used measure, and the input variables were the three principal components created by applying the PCA method.The verification of the accuracy of the results and the identification of the best clustering method were carried out using the cophenetic correlation coefficient CC . The higThe results of the cluster analysis of the selected parameters that characterized the countries and represented the impact of aviation on greenhouse gas emissions in the air of the EU-27 countries are shown in The purpose of the existing EU policies aimed at reducing air pollution is to achieve an air quality that does not cause significant negative effects on human health and the environment.The total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-27 have decreased in recent years, but the percentage of the contribution of all forms of transport (including the aviation) to the production of greenhouse gas emissions has increased.The present study examined information on the greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-27 member states. The utilization of other available data  facilitated a comparison of the individual member states by applying multiple-criteria statistical methods. The result was the creation of clusters consisting of similar member states, while also considering the impact of aviation on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The processed data indicated that the EU member states may be divided into four groups based on their similarities. Group 1 consisted of Germany and France; Group 2 consisted of Spain, Sweden and Italy; and Group 3 consisted of Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Ireland. The remaining member states were grouped into one big cluster of countries with similar characteristics. This analysis of the impact of aviation on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions demonstrates the differences between individual EU countries.Aviation is a strong sector within the European Union economy, and its importance exhibits continuing expansion. Nevertheless, every member state in the EU-27 should also realize that, along with the growth of air transport, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions becomes increasingly important for the sake of public health and safety.


The paper investigates the relationship between the tribological properties/compositions of new aluminum antifriction alloys and compositions of the secondary structures formed on their friction surfaces. Eight alloys with various compositions have been analyzed. The elemental compositions of the secondary structures on their friction surfaces have been determined. The relationship between the alloy secondary structure compositions with wear rate has been found. An attempt has been made to determine the secondary structure composition patterns based on the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and self-organization theory. This paper continues the studies of new antifriction aluminum alloys beginning in ,5,6,7,8.Antifriction aluminum alloys have been developed for replacement of antifriction bronzes in journal bearings . BasicalSince the end of the XIX century, it has been argued that the tribological properties of the materials depend on the properties of the secondary structures on the friction surface ,22,23,24In ,32 it waFor searching the formation patterns of the secondary structures on the friction surface of an antifriction material, we apply the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and self-organization theory I. Prigogine ,34 similAccording to ,34, selfThe expression for the entropy production (Equation (1) is made under the assumption that friction is the only source of energy in the system. It is believed that more than 90% of the friction energy is converted into thermal energy. Therefore, in equation (1) it is assumed that the main energy dissipation occurs due to thermal conductivity. The remaining processes occurring in the surface layers during friction, we tried to take into account the change in the coefficients of friction and thermal conductivity of the surface layers with time.In ,34 for tondition ,34:(2)∂∂At the same time, according to ,34 the dThe value on the right side of (3) is called the excessive entropy production. It follows from (2) and (3) that the system can lose its thermodynamic stability under the condition (4):With beginning of the run-in period, the tribosystem begins to deviate from the equilibrium state in course of time. The excessive entropy production of the rubbing body, considering (1) will be equal to (assuming that only k and λ change in course of time):The excessive entropy production in (6) may become negative, provided that:The condition (6) is observed when the coefficient of friction and thermal conductivity of the surface layers simultaneously decrease or simultaneously increase in the run-in process. Simultaneous increase in the coefficient of friction and thermal conductivity is typical for seizure prevailing in the run-in process while the secondary structures are not formed. Simultaneous decrease in the coefficient of friction and thermal conductivity is typical for formation of the secondary structures without seizure.Let us consider the conditions required for self-organization occurrence in the run-in process which correspond to the conditions of the thermodynamic stability loss. For the purpose, the processes that occur in the friction zone without seizure, in the friction zone with seizure and mass transfer in the zones will be considered. The expression for the entropy production in that case is shown in (7):On the right side of expression (7), the first and second terms characterize the entropy productions in the friction zones without seizure and with seizure, respectively; while the third and fourth terms characterize the entropy productions resulted from mass transfer in the friction zones without seizure and with seizure, respectively, similarly to .Successful run-in usually results in decrease in the coefficient of friction, wear rate, seizure area, temperature, and increase in the contact area . ConsideBehavior of other variables included in (7) in course of time on the initial run-in stage is unknown. Their behavior on the initial run-in stage will be investigated based on the highest probability of the thermodynamic stability loss (condition of possible self-organization). The highest probability of the thermodynamic stability loss will be determined based on the maximum possible number of negative terms in (3).Let’s consider the probability of the thermodynamic stability loss by the tribosystem with the entropy production (7) when the conditions of (8)–(11) are observed in the run-in process. Excessive entropy production is equal to:The probability for (12) to satisfy this condition will be estimated based on the ratio of the negative and positive terms on the right side of the expression.The first member on the right side of (12) comprises 5 terms. Based on the conditions of (8)–(11), 3 terms are negative.The second member on the right side of (12) comprises 3 terms. Based on the conditions of (8)–(11), maximum 2 terms can become negative, provided that:The third member on the right side of (12) comprises 5 terms. Based on the conditions of (8-11), maximum 4 terms can become negative, provided that:The fourth member on the right side of (12) comprises 5 terms. Based on the conditions of (8–11), maximum 4 terms can become negative, provided that:Therefore, from 18 terms (12) maximum 13 can become negative under the conditions of (8)–(11) and (14)–(16). Observation of (14)–(16) results in the highest probability of the thermodynamic stability loss and self-organization occurrence. It follows from (14)–(16) that for increasing the self-organization probability, relatively heavy elements should be preferably transferred into the friction zone with seizure, while relatively light elements should be preferably transferred into the friction zone without seizure.In  it is shThe tribilogical tests were carried out based on the shoe-and-roller scheme. The shoe was made of antifriction aluminum alloys while the roller was made of chromium-nickel steel. SNC28 steel  was an analogue. The radius of the shoe and roller was 20 mm, while their thickness was 10 mm. The steel composition is shown in The shoes were made of antifriction aluminum alloys. The alloy compositions are shown in 2.The secondary structure compositions were determined using the microanalyzer of a scanning electron microscope. The tested area of each friction surface was approximately 100 mmIn the process of friction, alloys undergo significant changes in the structure and composition of the friction surface. The difference between the surface before friction and the surface after friction is illustrated in Theoretical analysis was carried out in terms of the highest self-organization probability. As a result of self-organization, the secondary structures are formed. Processes in the secondary structures result in sharp decrease in wear rate and increase in seizure load. It has been shown that for the highest self-organization probability it is necessary that relatively heavy elements should be transferred to the friction zone with seizure, while relatively light elements should be transferred to the friction area without seizure. Thus, the likelihood of seizure increases with decrease seizure load and with decreased content of heavy elements in secondary structures.The friction surfaces that work with seizure have increased wear rate. Therefore, it could be expected that alloys with increased content of heavy elements within the secondary structure composition will have relatively low wear rate. Heavy elements include elements heavier than aluminum.The secondary structures of the AO-8.7 alloy have the lowest content of heavy elements  . TherefoThe seizure load of the AO-5.8 alloy is slightly less than the seizure load of the alloy AO-8.7. The content of heavy elements in the secondary structures of the AO-5.8 alloy (9.9%) is significantly higher than the content of heavy elements in the secondary structures of the AO-8.7 alloy. Therefore, the friction of a pair of AO-5.8—steel occurs almost without seizure. It is evidenced by low iron content  in the sThe figures show that the tin content on the friction surface demonstrates almost 2-fold decrease compared to the initial structure. In the initial structure, tin is located over the grain boundaries. On the friction surface, it is more evenly distributed. Carbon appears on the surface only after friction and, basically, occupies the tin-free areas.The AO-11 and AO-7.6 alloys have low seizure loads , i.e., tThe AO-5.4 and AO-9.8 alloys have the highest seizure load among all of the tested alloys. Therefore, they are least prone to seizure. It is proved by relatively low iron content in the secondary structures of the alloys. With normal friction without seizure, preferable transfer of light elements in the friction zone is desired. The light element content in the secondary structures of the AO-5.4 alloy demonstrates the 1.5-fold increase compared to their content in the secondary structures of the AO-9.8 alloy. In the secondary structures of the AO-9.8 alloy, the light element content is the lowest one. This is due to the fact that the wear of the AO-9.8 alloy is 1.4 times higher than the wear of the AO-5.4 alloy.The AO-9.6 alloy has a comparably low seizure load . The secThe AO-6.4 has a high seizure load, while its secondary structures comprise more than 10% of heavy elements (11%). For this reason, the AO-6.4 alloy is not prone to intensive seizure. The secondary structures of the AO-6.4 alloy comprise the small amount of light elements (23.3%), so the alloy is subjected to a noticeable wear in the friction zones without seizure.To describe the relationship between the composition of secondary structures and the wear of antifriction aluminum alloys non-equilibrium thermodynamics and self-organization theory have been applied. It is shown that in order to reduce the wear rate as a result of self-organization, it is necessary that mainly heavy elements are transferred to the friction zones with seizure, and predominantly light elements to the friction zones without seizure. Qualitative analysis has been carried out to determine the relationship between the secondary structure compositions of the alloys and their tribilogical characteristics. It has been shown that the wear rate of the antifriction aluminum alloys depends not only on alloy compositions but also on compositions of their secondary structures. Consequently, when developing the alloys, it is necessary to take compositions of the formed secondary structure into consideration.


The subject of this research is one of the main preconditions for the provision of high-quality social care services for people over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency. It involves the spatial accessibility of formally established nursing services examined in 76 districts of the Czech Republic. The aim of this article is to identify and evaluate the gaps in spatial accessibility of the selected residential and outpatient-clinic services at the level of districts in individual regions of the Czech Republic in 2018. A three-phase analysis was performed, including an ArcGIS network analysis, multi-criteria evaluation according to the TOPSIS method, and a correlation analysis encompassing the confidence interval gained via the Bootstrap method. Seven indicators were selected—recipients of the allowance for the care, capacity of residential and outpatient-clinic services, and four indicators of accessibility via individual and public transport within the set time intervals. The results show good availability of residential care (no gap) within 30 min. by individual and public transport in most districts (94%). However, day services centers do not have a space gap in only 28% of districts by individual transport, and 8% of districts by public transport. In the case of day care centers, 54% of districts by individual transport, and 29% of districts by public transport do not have a space gap. The results also show that the level of spatial availability of care (gaps) in the district is not related to the number of people aged 65+ with reduced self-sufficiency in the district. On the contrary, the correlation analysis shows that with the growing number of people aged 65+ with reduced self-sufficiency in the district, the capacity of residential and outpatient services increases and the gaps in spatial accessibility do not decrease. Public policy within the area of social care focused on senior citizens (people over the age of 65) in the Czech Republic is part of the National Strategy of Social Services Development for the period between 2016 and 2025. This policy reacts again to the previously determined acute needs of society listed in the National Action Plan Supporting Positive Ageing for the period between 2013 and 2017 with an outlook to 2020. Besides other points, this deals with the provision of a wide offering of mutually connected social-health services for senior citizens and the provision of long-term and palliative care respecting the locality and time accessibility of services for senior citizens with limited self-sufficiency. The accessibility of social services is determined by the number of social services facilities present in the region and their capacity and transport reachability .The market of social services for the elderly has a relatively extensive network, which is provided in the form of outpatient, field, and residential services. Trends present in the developed countries of Europe show that residential social services for senior citizens are being replaced by field social care. An example is of this is the Norwegian market for social services for senior citizens where the ratio of home care rises along with the ratio of private social care providers . A similThis article is structured into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, which explains that the addressed problem is current and beneficial for all states that take care of the social needs of their citizens. The second chapter presents both an overview of professional literature and the key findings resulting from them, as well as the aim and hypothesis of the article. The third chapter is devoted to methodological content in addition to a description of the methods used, including characteristics of the data and selected parameters. The fourth chapter deals with the analysis and discussion of achieved results. The fifth chapter is a conclusion that briefly summarizes the findings and suggests opportunities for further research.The spatial accessibility and time accessibility of social services represent necessary preconditions of good quality of these services. Accessible services mitigate poverty and support independent life for citizens. Accessibility is a measure of supply and demand for social care resources, as well as the interaction between supply and demand within and between geographical regions . SpatialSome basic preconditions for accessibility are a sufficient capacity of residential and outpatient-clinic care facilities and their spatial design including the specifics of the cities and countryside municipalities where they are located. A comparison of the accessibility and supply of social services in the cities and countryside in Estonia was conducted by . The autSpatial accessibility in relation to specific socio-economic issues is also currently being examined in Germany.  studied From the perspective of clients and citizens, long-term care is generally preferred at the place of residence, at fist as outpatient-clinic (field) care and subsequently as residential long-term care. This is the general conclusion of research based on the examination of results from studies mostly conducted in European states and in the USA . This isAuthor  evaluateIn their qualitative study,  evaluateAuthors  recommenThe above findings are also developed by the authors of this article, whose ambition it is to verify the possibilities of a methodological approach based on a combination of multiple methods and to contribute with original outputs to better information about the actual state of spatial availability of social services in the Czech Republic.Within this article, the object of the research is to represent the spatial accessibility of nursing services including residential and outpatient-clinic services in the Czech Republic for persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency. The gap of spatial accessibility means the absence of the offer of the given services or their poor accessibility by individual and public transport in the district. The analysis of the spatial accessibility is structured into three logically interconnected phases. Each phase is built around the testing of a specific hypothesis (H1 –H3).A number of measures have been proposed for the spatial dimensions of healthcare access within a given area, mainly availability and accessibility . In the “A good level of accessibility of residential and outpatient-clinic services, i.e. reachability within 30 min via the means of individual and public transport, is achieved by 80% of the districts in the Czech Republic.”H1: In the second phase, the article deals with a multi-criteria evaluation of the spatial accessibility of residential and outpatient-clinic social services for the recipients of the allowance for care, according to the TOPSIS method, at the level of districts of individual regions in the Czech Republic in 2018. This method ranks the districts from the best to the worst.“The best districts regarding spatial accessibility are the ones with the highest numbers of persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency, and vice versa.”H2: In the last part, the article focuses on the determination of the level of correlation between the number of recipients of the allowance for the care, the capacity of services, and the values representing the level of accessibility achieved via the TOPSIS method for 76 districts of the Czech Republic in 2018.“With the increasing number of persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency in a district, the capacity of residential and outpatient-clinic services rises, as does their spatial accessibility.”H3: The infrastructure of social services consists of registered legal or natural persons who fulfil the requirements and the conditions defined in the law for the provision of social services in the Czech Republic, according to Act n. 108/2006 Coll., on Social Services, effective from 1 January 2007. The analysis of the spatial accessibility of providers of residential and outpatient-clinic services is focused on the area of individual districts. According to the data from , there wThe capital city of Prague was not included in the analysis because of its incomparability with the districts or regions from the administrative, territorial, and demographic perspectives.The data needed for the analyses were obtained from public databases, registers, sources provided by the relevant institutions, and original calculations. The main data sources included:Register of providers of social services in the Czech Republic, a source for getting and confirming the number of legitimate providers of social services and the addresses of places where social services are being provided so that the GPS coordinates could be obtained13 regional networks of social services providers, source for the data on the capacity of individual types of social servicesMinistry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic from which the numbers of persons over the age of 65 receiving the allowance for care according to individual stages of dependence by district in 2018 were obtained based on the request for the provision of informationInformation portal OKWork (OKPráce) and its information system together with the Integrated portal of the MoLSA of the Czech Republic, serving for the search of available locations within a defined time interval or within a defined distance when using the means of public transport. It describes the parameters of the connection between municipalities of the Czech Republic for commuting to work (ie. the chosen hours for the route there and back). The connection is normally searched for only among municipalities within a direct distance of less than 150 km. The database is then limited to the records where the commuting time is shorter than 90 minutes and the maximal number of changes is five. The search for connections was performed only at the level of municipalities . The connections for this database were examined for arrivals at 7 AM, 8 AM and 2 PM. The connections were searched for in bus and train timetables, without local transport options.For the needs of the analysis of the spatial accessibility of social services for persons over the age of 65, seven indicators (X1 –X7) were studied. The indicators were selected so that they take into account not only the transport reachability of the social services providers and the capacity of the selected types of residential and outpatient-clinic social services in individual districts of the Czech Republic, but also the perspective of highly relevant demand represented by persons over the age of 65 (the elderly), being the recipients of the allowance for care from the state’s budget.The first three indicators are X1, X2 and X3. Their values for the year of 2018 for 76 districts are listed in Indicator X1—recipients of the allowance for care over the age of 65 (number of recipients). Social services are designated for people who are in unfavourable life situations and are at risk of being excluded from society. The largest group of social services users is represented by senior citizens (persons over the age of 65) who are dependent on help from another person because of lowered self-sufficiency or poor health conditions (dementia and other conditions). Persons with poor health over a long period of time who are not able to satisfy some of their basic life needs without help from others are eligible for a monthly social allowance—allowance for care. This allowance is provided based on Act n. 108/2006 Coll. on Social Services as amended, and Regulation n. 505/2006 Coll. for the application of some of the clauses from the Act on Social Services as amended. The amount of the allowance depends on the age of the claimant  and the stage of dependence on help from another person . The allowance for care serves as the payment for social services provided. In general, social services, especially residential ones, are primarily designated for persons with a declared stage of dependence, i.e. the recipients of the allowance for care.Indicator X2—capacity of the providers of residential social services . Residential social services include homes for the elderly and special regime homes. These are social facilities in which long-term social care is provided, especially for persons over the age of 65 who are dependent on help from another person because of their lowered self-sufficiency and poor health conditions (dementia or other conditions) related to their advanced age.Indicator X3—capacity of outpatient-clinic social services (capacity of clinic). Outpatient-clinic social services include day care centres and centres providing day services. These social services are provided in facilities which are only visited by clients, i.e. overnight accommodation, short-term accommodation, or long-term accommodation are not provided. Day care centres are designated for persons with lowered self-sufficiency for whom full-day, complex care is provided with regard to the needs of individual clients, including educational and activating activities. Day services centres provide help with personal hygiene and with the arrangement of the personal affairs of a client.There were 760 residential and 582 outpatient-clinic social services facilities for persons over the age of 65 identified in the Czech Republic  in 2018. Th highest proportion was held by homes for the elderly (493) and special regime homes (114) with a total capacity of above 40 thousand beds. In the case of the outpatient-clinic social services, there was everyday care available for senior citizens in day care centres (100) and centres providing day services (33) with the total capacity of 1,580. The average daily capacity for outpatient-clinic social services ranges between 5 to 15 spots.Then, there are the four indicators (X4 –X7) representing spatial (transport) reachability of residential and outpatient-clinic social facilities via the means of individual and public transport (buses and trains). These are calculated in regard to the places of residence of the recipients of the allowance for care over the age of 65 in individual districts. The values of these indicators are the results of original calculations and they represent the level of coverage of the districts’ areas by the services given, from the perspective of the recipients of the allowance (X1) living within the time area given.The foundation for the calculations is represented by the values of the indicator X1 and the determination of reachability using the network analysis following the methodology described below and depicted in the maps Figs .Indicator X4 is decomposed into X4a and X4b, and it represents the transport reachability of residential services  via the means of individual transport (IT) in intervals within 30 min and 60 min at 2 PM on Tuesdays for individual districts (dn) for persons (X1) living in the time area given, in %, according to formula Indicator X5 is decomposed into X5a and X5b, and it represents the transport reachability of residential services  via the means of public transport (PT) in intervals within 30 min and 60 min at 2 PM on Tuesdays for individual districts (dn) for persons (X1) living in the time area given, in %, according to formula Indicator X6 is decomposed into X6a and X6b, and it represents the transport reachability of outpatient-clinic services  via the means of individual transport (IT) in intervals within 30 min and 60 min at 7 AM and 8 AM on Tuesdays for individual districts (dn) for persons (X1) living in the time area given, in %, according to formula Indicator X7 is decomposed into X7a and X7b, and it represents the transport reachability of outpatient-clinic services  via the means of public transport (PT) in intervals within 30 min and 60 min at 7 AM and 8 AM on Tuesdays for individual districts (dn) for persons (X1) living in the time area given, in %, according to formula The foundation for the analysis of the spatial accessibility of social services is created from the coordinates of the locations of individual providers. Two time intervals for commuting were set, within 30 min and within 60 min, and a specific day of the week was selected, a so-called common workday. Tuesday was selected as a common workday since Mondays and Fridays are often affected by weekend commuting. For the case of public transport, only connections with an arrival time of 7 AM, 8 AM or 2 PM on a common workday were selected. This was the same for individual transport. The result of the selection analysis is represented by the records on the connections meeting the conditions defined in the methodology. From these records, the most suitable connections were selected using a weighing function, comparing the time of travel, time of arrival, time of departure, number of changes, and price. The facilities of the selected social service are located at various places within the municipalities. It needs to be emphasized that city public transport was excluded from the analysis. Therefore, the actual results of the analysis do not describe the accessibility of the facilities (i.e. the closest bus stops near these facilities) but rather the accessibility of the municipalities  in which the facilities are located. The access zones of these municipalities are determined by the time of travel via the means of public transport (including the time needed for changing and waiting for another connection).A geographical information system (GIS) represents a framework for the collection, management, analysis, and visualisation of data. A GIS enables the analysis of spatial location, organization of data in layers, and data visualisation in the form of maps and 3D scenes . OrganizTo model the transport accessibility via the means of individual transport, a network analysis technique was used. Network analyses in a GIS rely on algorithms whose theoretical cores are based on graph theory . The usuGeneration of access zones for the selected facilities was performed using a geoprocessing service denoted as “service area” that is published on a cloud GIS solution called ArcGIS Online. An advantage of this service is its ability to include information on traffic , . This maMuch has been written in social or health studies about the spatial accessibility of long-term care services, especially through the use of spatial models in a geographic information system (GIS), for example in the USA , in SoutThe accessibility of the facilities of the selected social services via the means of public transport was defined using the database of transport connections ,50. The The TOPSIS method  belongs among multi-criteria decision-making methods that were developed over a long period of time by authors Hwang and Yoon  as an alThe procedure of the calculation using the TOPSIS method can be described via the following steps:creation of a matrix D in which the alternatives are ordered according to the relevant, pre-defined criteria,Ai = ith alternative, xij = value of jth criterion reached by ith alternative.where creation of a normalized criteria matrix that serves for the calculation of normalized values, following formula xij = value of jth criterion reached by ith alternative.where multiplication by the weights for each individual criterion, following formula vij = weighted normalized value and wij = criterion’s weight.where Hj and the base alternative Dj, following formula determination of the ideal alternative calculation of the alternatives’ distances from the ideal alternative and the base alternative, following formula calculation of the relative distance from the base alternative, following formula i is the indicator of the relative distance from the base alternative.where cci indicator are within the interval <0, 1> where 0 is represented by the base alternative, and 1 is represented by the ideal alternative. The alternatives are then ordered according to the ci indicator’s values from highest to lowest based on which complete order of alternatives is being evaluated [The result values of the valuated .An important step in the calculation using the TOPSIS technique is the determination of the weights for the criteria that reflect the relative importance of each individual criterion. Weights can be determined, for example, using the method of order, the method of points, Saaty’s method, or Fuller’s triangle . AccordiThe TOPSIS method is also used to evaluate the performance, quality of services, and programs in the public and private sectors. In particular, the publications of authors –59 who ha, b−X7a, b) were assigned using an integrated approach (see Weights for the eight criteria being studied (indicators X4oach see . Expert r). This is calculated using the covariance, i.e. the common dispersion of two variables where each deviation from the average of one variable The relationship between two attributes, including intervals, is only measured using Pearson’s coefficient of linear correlation  for the correlation coefficient r. For this purpose, the bootstrap method was applied.Pearson’s coefficient was tested for two significance levels, Bootstrapping is a computer technique that simulates a population based on an original sample, from which the computer generates multiple further samples  with the same size as that of the original sample. The lower and the upper border of the CI are determined using the percentile method for 95%.Pearson’s coefficient and the confidence interval using the bootstrap method were calculated in IBM SPSS Statistics software .The results of the programming and calculations performed are described in steps. At first, attention is focused on the evaluation of the visual (map) form of the spatial accessibility of individual types of social services in the ArcGIS environment. This is followed by the multi-criteria evaluation of the spatial accessibility using the TOPSIS method and the evaluation of the relationship between the selected indicators using Pearson’s coefficient and the bootstrap method.The evaluation of the spatial accessibility via the means of individual and public transport for social services  for the times set see  was perfThe scale of the spatial accessibility:good accessibility (no gaps): there is at least one provider of the service given with a seat available in the district and the reachability, for the most part, of the district’s area (80–100%) is within 30 min;lowered accessibility (with a gap): regardless of whether the provider’s available seat is in the district’s area, a reachability within 30 min is only secured for 50–70% of the district’s area, and the rest of the district’s area has a reachability within 60 min or above 60 min;poor accessibility (with a significant gap): there is no provider of the service given with a seat available in the district, and the reachability is above 60 min for most of the area (60%).The spatial accessibility via the means of individual and public transport to the locations of residential services  is displayed in two separate maps depicting the area of the Czech Republic, regions and the districts within them see Figs  and 2. TEven the visual comparison suffices for identification of the fact that the spatial accessibility is slightly better in the case of individual transport than it is for public transport, especially in the Regions of Pilsen, Karlovy Vary and South Bohemia. Among these three regions, the situation is worst in the Region of Pilsen, specifically in the Klatovy and Domažlice Districts where there are no available seats in residential services. The area of these districts is partially covered by the Šumava Mountains, same as in the Prachatice District, creating a natural transport obstacle. In the case of the Karlovy Vary District in the Region of Karlovy Vary, reachability is affected by the nature of the territory where the Hradiště Military Area is in the east.An aggregate view of the reachability is shown in Following the results of the scale-based analysis, it can be stated that the spatial accessibility of homes for the elderly and special regime homes from the perspective of the transport utilized  is comparable, and for more than 89% of districts  it applies that: there is at least one provider of the service given with an available seat in each district and the reachability for the most part of the district’s area (80–100%) is within 30 min.The spatial accessibility via the means of individual and public transport for the case of seats available in outpatient-clinic services  is displayed in four separate maps depicting the area of the Czech Republic, regions and the districts within them see Figs –6. Same The maps in Figs An aggregate view of the reachability is shown in Following the results of the scale-based analysis, it can be stated that the spatial accessibility of day services centres from the perspective of the transport utilized  is not fully comparable. Excluding the area of the available seat at the facility providing the service given, some similarity is indicated by lowered spatial accessibility  where 51–52% of the districts have a lowered level of spatial accessibility via the means of individual as well as public transport. For these districts, it applies that regardless of whether the provider’s seat is in the district’s area, a reachability within 30 min is only secured for 50–70% of the district, and the rest of the district’s area has a reachability within 60 min or above 60 min. Nonetheless, a poor level of accessibility was detected for 20% of the districts (13) when regarding individual transport and for 41% of the districts (31) when regarding public transport. For these districts, it applies that there is no provider of the service given with an available seat in the district and the reachability is above 60 min for the most part of the area (60%). A good level of accessibility was detected for 28% of the districts (21) using the means of individual transport and only for 8% of the districts (6) using the means of public transport.The maps in Figs An aggregate view of the reachability is displayed in Following the scale-based analysis, it can be stated that the spatial accessibility of day care centres from the perspective of the transport utilized  is comparable to only a very small extent. A good level of accessibility  for day care centres was detected for 54% of the districts (41) via the means of individual transport and only for 29% of the districts (17) via the means of public transport. For these districts, it applies that: there is at least one provider of the service given with an available seat in the district and the reachability for the most part of the district’s area (80–100%) is within 30 min.A lower level of spatial accessibility  of day care centres was detected for 46% of the districts (35) by means of individual transport and for 57% of the districts (53) by means of public transport. For these districts it applies that: regardless of whether the provider’s available seat is in the district’s area, a reachability within 30 min is only secured for 50–70% of the district’s area, and the rest of the district’s area has a reachability within 60 min or above 60 min.A poor level of spatial accessibility  was not detected for any of the districts by means of individual transport and it was detected for 14% of the districts (11) by means of public transport. For these districts, it applies that: there is no provider of the service given with an available seat in the district and the reachability is above 60 min for the most part of the area (60%).ci for the corresponding four indicators: X4ci , X5ci , X6ci  a X7ci , see The results of the multi-criteria analysis are interpreted using the distribution matrix of ci = 0.8631, median of ci = 0.8720, standard deviation of ci = 0.1041, minimum of ci = 0.059, maximum of ci = 1.00. Deviation (D20)–the Domažlice District (PR). Skewness  of ci = 6.247, kurtosis of ci = 48.449.A static description of X4: mean value of ci = 0.999, D57 Brno—Countryside ci = 0.992, D28 Karlovy Vary ci = 0.948, D35 Teplice ci = 0.944, D41 Hradec Králové ci = 0.938. The last five (worst) districts are: D20 Domažlice ci = 0.005, D71 Bruntál ci = 0.753, D54 Žďár nad Sázavou ci = 0.758, D21 Klatovy ci = 0.758, D73 Karviná ci = 0.805.From the ranking, the first five (best) districts are: D56 Brno—City ci = 0.8358, median of ci = 0.8820, standard deviation of ci = 0.1503, minimum of ci = 0.001, maximum of ci = 1.00. Deviations –the Prachatice District (SBR), the Domažlice District and the Klatovy District (PR). Skewness of ci = 3.945, kurtosis of ci = 18.680.A static description of X5: mean value of ci = 1.000, D23 Plzeň –City ci = 0.958, D35 Teplice ci = 0.948, D38 Jablonec nad Nisou ci = 0.944, D36 Ústí nad Labem ci = 0.942. The last five (worst) districts are: D21 Klatovy ci = 0.001, D20 Domažlice ci = 0.114, D17 Prachatice ci = 0.532, D24 Plzeň –North ci = 0.673, D54 Žďár nad Sázavou ci = 0.688.From the ranking, the first five (best) districts are: D56 Brno—City ci = 0.7011, median of ci = 0.7985, standard deviation of ci = 0.2471, minimum of ci = 0.0780, maximum of ci = 1.00. Skewness  of ci = 0.862, kurtosis of ci = 0.244.A static description of X6: mean value of i = 1.000, D35 Teplice ci = 0.963, D41 Hradec Králové ci = 0.963, D57 Brno—Countryside ci = 0.954, D23 Plzeň –City ci = 0.952. The last five (worst) districts are: D29 Sokolov ci = 0.078, D17 Prachatice ci = 0.084, D13 České Budějovice ci = 0.094, D28 Karlovy Vary ci = 0.153, D14 Český Krumlov ci = 0.281.From the ranking, the first five (best) districts are: D56 Brno—City ci = 0.6400, median of ci = 0.7175, standard deviation of ci = 0.2510, minimum of ci = 0.00, maximum of ci = 1.00. Skewness  ci = 0.812, kurtosis ci = 0.344.A static description of X7: mean value of ci = 0.997, D23 Plzeň –City ci = 0.966, D35 Teplice ci = 0.944, D76 Ostrava—City ci = 0.931, D4 Kolín ci = 0.912. The last five (worst) districts are: D29 Sokolov ci = 0.000, D28 Karlovy Vary ci = 0.035, D17 Prachatice ci = 0.090, D61 Znojmo ci = 0.162, D30 Děčín ci = 0.202.From the ranking, the first five (best) districts are: D56 Brno—City cci for all four indicators  MTci . The values of MTci for all 76 districts are captured in the chart in The total result of the multi-criteria evaluation of spatial accessibility is a mean value of ci and the ranking of all 76 districts are listed in the appendix.The worst five districts are: D17 Prachatice, D29 Sokolov, D20 Domažlice, D21 Klatovy and D28 Karlovy Vary. The median of the set is 0.780 , and the confidence interval (CI) for the correlation coefficient calculated using the bootstrap method is included. The results of the correlation—values of the correlation coefficient r obtained, mostly two intervals are relevant—substantial correlation for r within the interval of 0.50–0.69, and a moderate correlation for r within the interval of 0.30–0.49.The interpretation of the correlation coefficient’s values is done according to  who deteThe correlation matrix shows positive correlation relationships at the significance levels of 0.01 and 0.05 which means that when the value of one attribute (indicator) rises, so does the value of the other attribute and vice versa.r = 0.642); ; . Therefore, it can be stated that when the number of recipients of the allowance for care (X1) rises, so does the capacity of residential services in the given area (X2) and vice versa. When the level of the spatial accessibility of residential social services via the means of individual transport improves, the level of the spatial accessibility of residential services via the means of public transport improves as well. Similarly, when the level of the spatial accessibility of the outpatient-clinic services via the means of individual transport improves, so does the level of the spatial accessibility of the outpatient-clinic services via the means of public transport.A substantial correlation relationship was detected between the following couples of indicators: ; ; . Thus, it can be stated that when the number of recipients of the allowance for care (X1) rises, so does the capacity of the outpatient-clinic services (X3), and vice versa. The capacity of the outpatient-clinic services is also significantly correlated with the level of the spatial accessibility of the outpatient-clinic services via the means of individual as well as public transport. Other interesting findings are the facts that:A moderate correlation relationship was detected between the following indicators: , the level of the spatial accessibility of residential and outpatient-clinic services (X4 –X5) in the district does not rise significantly, nor does the capacity of the outpatient-clinic services (X3) in the district.with an increase in the capacity of residential services (X2), the level of the spatial accessibility of residential and outpatient-clinic services (X4 –X5) The results of the research bring original knowledge about the spatial offering of three types of social services intended for persons aged 65+ with reduced self-sufficiency at the level of 76 districts of the Czech Republic. The originality of the study can be seen also in the methodological concept of the evaluation of spatial accessibility gaps, which uses, among other things, the capacity of residential and outpatient services and the number of potential clients of services. Previous studies (see Literature Review) have dealt mainly with the issue of residential care and did not consider outpatient care and field care. Currently, there is no study available in the Czech Republic that focuses on the supply of social services within the context of the needs of persons with lowered self-sufficiency. Usually, only the persons’ age and the capacity of services are studied, ,14. It iNevertheless, the results of this research also corroborate that besides the insufficient capacity, the facilities of residential and outpatient-clinic services are not optimally located in space. The nursing infrastructure shows a number of gaps in spatial accessibility, especially within the outpatient-clinic services. The gaps in the spatial accessibility of the outpatient-clinic services are caused by the absence of these services in some of the districts as well as by the inability to reach such services within 60 min by means of public or individual transport. There is a critical situation for persons over the age of 65 in most districts of the South Bohemian Region, the Region of Pilsen, and the Region of Karlovy Vary.The ranking of the districts, especially in relation to the first (best) and last (worst) five, shows that the best districts do not include those with the greatest numbers of persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency and the worst districts are not those with the lowest numbers of such persons. An exception is represented by the Brno—City District, which is the largest district in the Czech Republic in regard to the number of citizens while having the largest number of persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency and the highest level of spatial accessibility of residential and outpatient-clinic services via the means of individual as well as public transport.With the rising number of persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency in the district, the capacity of residential services increased. However, this does not apply to outpatient services. The occurrence and size of gaps in spatial accessibility are influenced by individual and public transport. The results show that if the availability of services improves through individual transport, then the accessibility also improves through public transport. However, with the growth of service capacity, their spatial availability does not improve, and spatial gaps remain. This means that in most cases, no new services are set up in other municipalities in the district, but existing facilities in municipalities where services are already available are strengthened. Therefore, ineffective implementation of the National Action Plan Supporting Positive Aging in the Czech Republic can be pointed out and further discussed. This especially applies to the spatial accessibility of outpatient-clinic care for persons over the age of 65 with lowered self-sufficiency.A future study may extend the existing study to other social services for the elderly. For example, weekly hospital appointments, sheltered housing, nursing services, and personal assistance.