Artificial Surfaces Research Articles

Formative evaluation and structural analysis of non-tuberculosis mycobacterial biofilm using material pieces

Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) can form biofilms on diverse artificial surfaces. In the present study, we induced NTM biofilm formation on materials used in various medical devices, evaluated the total amount of biofilm, and observed the ultrastructure by scanning electron microscopy.

Capability of the building-resolving PALM model system to capture micrometeorological characteristics of an urban environment in Vienna, Austria

Understanding and evaluating possible changes in thermal conditions of urban settlements are crucial for risk assessment, adaptation to climate change and sustainable urban development. This study presents the results of a micro-scale measurement campaign conducted in Vienna, Austria, to investigate the effects of natural and artificial surfaces on temperature and humidity variability. The observational data set is used for the evaluation of the newly developed building-resolving urban climate model system PALM. Dragino LHT65 LoRaWAN air temperature and humidity sensors were installed to monitor local-scale variations. On selected summer days, drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras were used to provide hourly surface temperature. The monitoring data show higher temperatures near buildings and overall strong spatial and temporal variations. The model demonstrates the capability to simulate the main thermal characteristics of the study area, although it slightly overestimates temperatures at night. Compared to the measurements, it has a less pronounced spatial variability in air temperature and relative humidity, but a larger one in surface temperature. The analysis confirmed that the urban climate model has the potential to appropriately assess microclimate conditions and therefore, contribute to future-oriented urban planning.

Improved urbanization-vegetation cover coordination associated with economic level in port cities along the Maritime Silk Road

The sustainability of port cities affects the competitiveness of their hinterland in international shipping and maritime trade, however, the coordinated relationship between urbanization and ecological environment in port cities has received less attention. In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the urban expansion process and vegetation cover changes in 44 port cities along the Maritime Silk Road during 2000–2020 based on multi-source remote sensing data. Adopting the urbanization-vegetation cover index (UVCI), we measured the coordination relationship between urban expansion and vegetation cover and the dynamics during 2000–2020. The results found that all port cities experienced dramatic development from 2000 to 2020, with an average increase in artificial surface area of 127.81%. The 63.64% of port cities experienced increased vegetation cover, thus the overall UVCI in the port city moved toward a more coordinated and sustainable pattern with significant heterogeneity at the economic levels. High-economy port cities have generally become more coordinated, while most low- and medium-economy cities still face challenges of conflicting urban expansion and ecological preservation. This study contributes to the development of government policies that support green and sustainable urban development in port cities, and provides insights for rationalizing development policies in port cities worldwide.

Impact of Urbanization on Cloud Characteristics over Sofia, Bulgaria

Urban artificial surfaces and structures induce modifications in land–atmosphere interactions, affecting the exchange of energy, momentum, and substances. These modifications stimulate urban climate formation by altering the values and dynamics of atmospheric parameters, including cloud-related features. This study evaluates the presence and quantifies the extent of such changes over Sofia, Bulgaria. The findings reveal that estimations of low-level cloud base height (CBH) derived from lifting condensation level (LCL) calculations may produce unexpected outcomes due to microclimate influence. Ceilometer data indicate that the CBH of low-level clouds over urban areas exceeds that of surrounding regions by approximately 200 m during warm months and afternoon hours. Moreover, urban clouds exhibit reduced persistence relative to rural counterparts, particularly pronounced in May, June, and July afternoons. Reanalysis-derived low-level cloud cover (LCC) shows no significant disparities between urban and rural areas, although increased LCC is observed above the western and northern city boundaries. Satellite-derived cloud products reveal that the optically thinnest low-level clouds over urban areas exhibit slightly higher cloud tops, but the optically thickest clouds are more prevalent during warm months. These findings suggest an influence of urbanization on cloudiness, albeit nuanced and potentially influenced by the city size and surrounding physical and geographical features.

A Systematic Review on Fuzzy Decision Support Systems and Multi-Criteria Analysis in Urban Heat Island Management

The phenomenon known as urban heat islands (UHIs) is becoming more common and widespread, especially in large cities and metropolises around the world. The main cause of these temperature variations between the city center and the suburbs is the replacement of large tracts of natural land with artificial (built-up) surfaces that absorb solar heat and radiate it back at night. UHIs have been the subject of numerous studies, most of which were about defining the main characteristics, factors, indexes, etc., of UHIs using remote sensing technologies or about determining mitigating activities. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the literature, as well as a bibliometric analysis, to discover research trends related to the application of decision support systems and multi-criteria decision-making for UHI management, with a special emphasis on fuzzy theory. Data collection is conducted using the Scopus bibliographic database. Throughout the literature review, it was found that there were not many studies on multi-criteria analysis and decision support system applications regarding UHIs. The fuzzy theory application was also reviewed, resulting in only a few references. However, this topic is current, with an increase in published papers, and authors see this as an opportunity for improvement and further research.

Nature-Inspired Micro/Nano-Structured Antibacterial Surfaces.

The problem of bacterial resistance has become more and more common with improvements in health care. Worryingly, the misuse of antibiotics leads to an increase in bacterial multidrug resistance and the development of new antibiotics has virtually stalled. These challenges have prompted the need to combat bacterial infections with the use of radically different approaches. Taking lessons from the exciting properties of micro-/nano-natural-patterned surfaces, which can destroy cellular integrity, the construction of artificial surfaces to mimic natural functions provides new opportunities for the innovation and development of biomedicine. Due to the diversity of natural surfaces, functional surfaces inspired by natural surfaces have a wide range of applications in healthcare. Nature-inspired surface structures have emerged as an effective and durable strategy to prevent bacterial infection, opening a new way to alleviate the problem of bacterial drug resistance. The present situation of bactericidal and antifouling surfaces with natural and biomimetic micro-/nano-structures is briefly reviewed. In addition, these innovative nature-inspired methods are used to manufacture a variety of artificial surfaces to achieve extraordinary antibacterial properties. In particular, the physical antibacterial effect of nature-inspired surfaces and the functional mechanisms of chemical groups, small molecules, and ions are discussed, as well as the wide current and future applications of artificial biomimetic micro-/nano-surfaces. Current challenges and future development directions are also discussed at the end. In the future, controlling the use of micro-/nano-structures and their subsequent functions will lead to biomimetic surfaces offering great potential applications in biomedicine.

Influence of surface condition, cycling frequency and ferritic zones on the high and very high cycle fatigue properties of a pearlitic steel

In the present work, the high and very high cycle fatigue (HCF/VHCF) properties of pearlitic steel R350HT are investigated. Servo-hydraulic (cycling frequency between 15 Hz and 60 Hz) and ultrasonic (19 kHz) fatigue tests were performed with different surface conditions (fine turned, mechanically polished and electropolished). At a load ratio of R = −1, solely failures in the HCF regime were found for all surface conditions, although runout specimens were loaded with more than 1010 cycles, and crack initiation was exclusively at the surface. At R = 0.1, in contrast, mechanically polished specimens showed internal failures for lifetimes between 106 and 109 cycles. The origin of fracture in the interior was identified as distributed ferritic phases embedded in the harder pearlitic microstructure. Crack initiation from ferritic zones could be explained by their larger size relative to inherent defects such as nonmetallic inclusions and precipitates. The absence of turning grooves in combination with compressive residual stresses near the surface of mechanically polished specimens led to an increase in HCF strength compared with fine-turned and electropolished specimens and facilitated VHCF failure from the interior. No frequency effect was observed when crack initiation originated from turning grooves or artificial surface defects, but slightly higher fatigue strengths were determined for electropolished specimens at 19 kHz than at conventional cycling frequency. This can be explained by the strain-rate sensitivity of ferrite where fatigue cracks preferentially initiate. Additional tests with specimens containing artificially introduced micro-holes were performed to systematically study material's defect tolerance and to quantify the mean-stress sensitivity.

Toward the eco-friendly cosmetic cleansing assisted by the micro-bubbly jet.

While numerous types of chemical cosmetic cleansers have been presented, those with sensitive skin may still experience some irritation while using them. Moreover, the environmental issue of chemical agents has been documented repeatedly. To address these, we suggest the potential application of a micro-sized bubble-laden water jet to cleanse the cosmetics without (or less) using chemical detergents. We devised a venturi-type nozzle with a mesh and air holes capable of generating massive fine bubbles. By testing with the foundation and lip tint (known to be highly adhesive) coated on the synthetic leather and artificial skin surfaces, we measured that the cleansing performance of the bubbly jet is much better (even without the chemical agent) than the single-phase liquid jet. As a mechanism for enhanced removal, it is understood that the greater kinetic energy of the jet due to the acceleration of the effective liquid-air mixture flow and the direct bubble-cosmetic collisions play essential roles. We believe that the present results will spur the development of environment-friendly cleaning methods.

Selective wetting and transport of systemic pesticides on bionic stomatal surface regulated by host–guest interaction

Pesticide residues in the environment pose serious threats to ecosystem and human health, and how to achieve the selective transport and enrichment of specific pesticide residues through hydrophobic surface are still an important challenge. Herein, inspired by the “stomatal gating effect” of plant leaves, amino pillar[5]arene-based host–guest gating systems are introduced into artificial porous surfaces with hydrophobicity to fabricate bionic stomatal surfaces (AP5A porous surface), which is expected to modulate the interaction between pesticide and bionic surface through host–guest interaction to selective promote the wetting and transport of specific pesticide on the surface. Experimental and simulation results indicated the AP5A porous surface would selectively capture and adsorb the triclopyr pesticide by strong host–guest interaction to enhance pesticide wettability, and realized the host–guest interaction induced fast transport and enrichment of triclopyr (246.4 μM cm−2h−1) on the bionic stomatal surface. This work provides a new perspective that host–guest interaction between pesticides and solid surface as a gating switch to selective induce the systemic pesticides wetting and transport on bionic porous surface, which is believed to be useful in applications such as the enrichment and removal of pesticide residues from environment in the future.

Quantifying the amount of land lost to artificial surfaces in European habitats: A comparison inside and outside Natura 2000 sites using a quasi-experimental design

The conversion of natural environments to artificial surfaces has significant irreversible impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The European Union (EU) has set ambitious goals to combat land artificialisation, including achieving “no net land take” by 2050. It also plans to expand its network of protected areas, including the Natura 2000 (N2K) sites, to 30 % of its area by 2030. However, studies have shown that land artificialisation continues to occur even within N2K sites. It has not yet been examined, though, which habitats are most affected. To address this gap, we used a high-resolution spatial layer of the EU's habitats and layers showing impervious surfaces across the EU to quantify and compare the current levels of artificial surfaces within each habitat inside and outside N2K sites. We also compared the changes in impervious surfaces between 2012 and 2015 and 2015–2018. We found that the total extent of impervious surfaces, and their rates of change, were lower within the N2K sites for all habitats examined. However, patterns varied: coastal habitats, grasslands, and agricultural habitats had higher levels of artificial surfaces than others, even within N2K sites. Our findings indicate that although the planned expansion of the N2K network can help mitigate the artificialisation of threatened habitats, N2K sites do not entirely halt land conversion. Member States should further improve the management effectiveness of NK2 sites and promote financial and policy instruments addressing land artificialisation, e.g., through land recycling, to safeguard vulnerable habitats and achieve the EU's conservation objectives.

Exploring the role of surface roughness in concrete-based thermal energy storage systems: A computational study

This study computationally investigates the effect of thermal energy storage (TES) material surface roughness on heat transfer fluid (HTF) flow dynamics and heat transfer capabilities. The motivation is to further understand systems where concrete as the TES material directly interfaces with air as the HTF, based on previous research suggesting potential benefits of avoiding differential thermal expansion issues associated with metallic tubes. A k-ε turbulence model in COMSOL Multiphysics examined air flow over concrete surfaces with five levels of roughness from 0 to 3 mm peak height. Increasing surface roughness enhances turbulence and significantly improves heat transfer and thermal storage performance, with 7 % higher charging efficiency and energy storage capacity and 55.6 % greater heat transfer rate from 0.3 to 3 mm roughness, despite a 138 % increase in pressure drop. Applying artificial surface modifications like indentations or fins could further optimize efficiency by amplifying heat transfer advantages of increased roughness while moderating pressure losses. This indicates a promising direction for future research on enhancing thermal energy storage through concrete surface optimization and substantiates the potential of concrete as an inexpensive, scalable, high performance TES material.

Factors determining changes in the network of marked hiking trails in the Sudetes

Hiking trails are a basic type of tourist infrastructure, which, on the one hand, make areas available for tourist traffic, and on the other hand, can contribute to the protection of the natural environment (if they are well designed and maintained). Owing to the variety of performed functions, their designation is determined by several factors: natural, technical, economic, social. Networks of trails change constantly. The aim of this article is to determine exactly what factors influence transformations within the hiking trail networks and what is their significance. To this end, three study areas in the Sudetes were analysed: one on the Polish side of the Sudetes–the Table (Stołowe) Mountains, and two on the Czech side–the rock town near the village of Sloup v Čechách and the central part of Zlatohorská vrchovina. An analysis of changes in the shape of the networks over time was carried out, as well as surveys of institutions that were responsible for or influenced these transformations. These areas are characterised by a significant level of changes in the trail network. Among the factors influencing these changes, the tourist attractiveness of the area, the resilience of the environment, the intensity of tourism traffic, the environmental transformations associated with it, the history of tourism development and land ownership changes should be considered the most important. At each stage of forming networks, the key factor should be tourists’ needs, including the desire to escape the urbanised environment. For this reason, trails should avoid roads with artificial (hard) surfaces and heavy automobile traffic.

Polarized Light Pollution of Fixed-Tilt Photovoltaic Solar Panels Measured by Drone-Polarimetry and Its Visual-Ecological Importance

Specific polarized light pollution (PLP) means the adverse influences of strongly and horizontally polarized light reflected from smooth and dark artificial surfaces on polarotactic water-seeking aquatic insects. Typical PLP sources are photovoltaic panels. Using drone-based imaging polarimetry, in a solar panel farm, we measured the reflection-polarization patterns of fixed-tilt photovoltaic panels from the viewpoint of flying polarotactic aquatic insects, which are the most endangered targets and potential victims of such panels. We found that the temporal changes in PLP were complementary for the two orthogonal viewing directions relative to the panel rows. The estimated magnitude plp of the polarized light pollution of solar panels viewed parallel to the panel rows was the highest (primary peak plp = 49–58% after sunrise and secondary peak plp = 35–48% prior to sunset) at low solar elevations, after sunrise and at or prior to sunset, when many aquatic insect species fly and seek water bodies. On the other hand, the PLP of solar panels viewed perpendicular to the panel rows was the highest (plp = 29–35%) at the largest solar elevations, near noon, when numerous flying aquatic insect species also seek water. Solar panel farms near wetlands can, therefore, be dangerous for these insects.

Spatial and Temporal Changes in Ecological Resilience in the Shanxi–Shaanxi–Inner Mongolia Energy Zone with Multi-Scenario Simulation

The energy-driven expansion of artificial surfaces has resulted in severe ecological problems. Scientific evaluation of regional ecological resilience under different scenarios is crucial for promoting ecological restoration. This study chose the Shanxi–Shaanxi–Inner Mongolia Energy Zone (SEZ) and modeled an ecological resilience evaluation based on resistance, adaptability, and recovery. Land-use change and ecological resilience from 1980 to 2020 were then analyzed. Moreover, the SEZ land-use patterns and ecological resilience in 2030 were simulated under business as usual (BAU), energy and mineral development (EMD), and ecological conservation and restoration (ECR) scenarios. The results showed that (1) the SEZ was dominated by cultivated land, grassland, and unused land. (2) Ecological resilience showed a changing trend of decreasing and then increasing, with high ecological resilience areas mainly located in the Yellow River Basin, whereas low ecological resilience areas spread outward from the central urban areas. (3) The ecological resilience level was the lowest under the EMD scenario and the highest under the ECR scenario. This study not only expands the analysis framework of ecological resilience research but also provides scientific support for ecological conservation in ecologically fragile areas with intensive human activity worldwide.

Research on the coupled mechanism of landscape connectivity simulation by integrating multi‐level ecological security patterns and multi‐scenario simulation: A case study of the main urban area of Hangzhou

AbstractIn the context of rapid urbanization, protecting landscape connectivity has become an effective measure to mitigate habitat fragmentation and curb biodiversity decline. However, in the current research on simulating optimization processes, the ecological constraints often set are dispersed, isolated, and fixed. They fail to form a comprehensive protective spatial framework and struggle to align with the multifaceted objectives of future development. This study, taking the main urban area of Hangzhou, China as a case study and employing small mammals as indicator species, utilizes the PLUS model to predict the potential threats to landscape connectivity of biological habitats posed by artificial surface expansion from 2020 to 2035. It constructs a coupled mechanism that integrates multi‐level ecological security patterns (ESPs) and multi‐scenario simulation for landscape connectivity, successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of this mechanism in future landscape connectivity preservation. The results indicate that under the scenarios of business‐as‐usual (BAU), priority given to urban development (PUD), and priority given to ecological protection (PEP), the overall level of landscape connectivity in the main urban area of Hangzhou is projected to decrease by 18.42%, 7.02%, and 4.39% respectively from 2020 to 2035. The reduction in core area is estimated to be 9.08%, 7.85%, and 6.34%, respectively, while highly important patches are expected to decrease by 12.91%, 7.51%, and 5.86%, respectively. Both PEP and PUD scenarios effectively mitigate the degree of landscape connectivity disruption. This study provides valuable insights for the future optimization of landscape connectivity and contributes to biodiversity conservation efforts.

A New High-Resolution Rural Built-Up Land Extraction Method Based on Artificial Surface Index with Short-Wave Infrared Downscaling

The complexity of surface characteristics in rural areas poses challenges for accurate extraction of built-up areas from remote sensing images. The Artificial Surface Index (ASI) emerged as a novel and accurate built-up land index. However, the absence of short-wave infrared (SWIR) bands in most high-resolution (HR) images restricts the application of index-based methods in rural built-up land extraction. This paper presents a rapid extraction method for high-resolution built-up land in rural areas based on ASI. Through the downscaling techniques of random forest (RF) regression, high-resolution SWIR bands were generated. They were then combined with visible and near-infrared (VNIR) bands to compute ASI on GaoFen-2 (GF-2) images (called ASIGF). Furthermore, a red roof index (RRI) was designed to reduce the probability of misclassifying built-up land with bare soil. The results demonstrated that SWIR downscaling effectively compensates for multispectral information absence in HR imagery and expands the applicability of index-based methods to HR remote sensing data. Compared with five other indices (UI, BFLEI, NDBI, BCI, and PISI), the combination of ASI and RRI achieved the optimal performance in built-up land enhancement and bare land suppression, particularly showcasing superior performance in rural built-up land extraction.

Exploring secretory proteome and cytokine kinetic of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and planktonic bacteria.

Staphylococcus aureus is a highly successful pathogen infecting various body parts and forming biofilms on natural and artificial surfaces resulting in difficult-to-treat and chronic infections. We investigated the secreted cytokines and proteomes of isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers exposed to methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) biofilms or planktonic bacteria. Additionally, the cytokine profiles in sera from patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) caused by S. aureus were investigated. The aim was to gain insights into the immune response involved and differentiate between the planktonic and sessile MRSA forms. We identified 321 and 298 targets that were significantly differently expressed in PBMCs when exposed to planktonic or biofilm-embedded bacteria, respectively. PBMCs exposed to planktonic MRSA cells secreted increased levels of TNF-α, while IL-18 was elevated when exposed to the biofilm. The machine-learning analyses of the cytokine profiles obtained for the in vitro PBMCs and CAP sera distinguished between the two types of bacteria forms based on cytokines IL-18, IL12, and IL-17, and with a lower importance IL-6. Particularly, IL-18 which has not been correlated with S. aureus biofilms so far might represent a suitable marker for monitoring chronification during MRSA infection to individualize the therapy, but this hypothesis must be proved in clinical trials.

A comprehensive research on open surface drinking water resources in Istanbul using remote sensing technologies.

Istanbul is a megacity with a population of 15.5 million and is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe. Due to the rapidly increasing population and urbanization, Istanbul's daily water needs are constantly increasing. In this study, eight drinking water basins that supply water to Istanbul were comprehensively examined using remote sensing observations and techniques. Water surface area changes were determined monthly, and their relationships with meteorological parameters and climate change were investigated. Monthly water surface areas of natural lakes and dams were determined with the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) applied to Sentinel-2 satellite images. Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images were used in months when optical images were unavailable. The study was carried out using 3705 optical and 1167 SAR images on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Additionally, to determine which areas of water resources are shrinking, water frequency maps of the major drinking water resources were produced. Land use/land cover (LULC) changes that occurred over time were determined, and the effects of the increase in urbanization, especially on drinking water surface areas, were investigated. ESRI LULC data was used to determine LULC changes in watersheds, and the increase in urbanization areas from 2017 to 2022 ranged from 1 to 91.43%. While the basin with the least change was in Istranca, the highest increase in the artificial surface was determined to be in the Büyükçekmece basin with 1833.03ha (2.89%). While there was a 1-12.35% decrease in the surface areas of seven water resources from 2016 to 2022, an increase of 2.65-93% was observed in three water resources (Büyükçekmece, Sazlıdere, and Elmalı), each in different categories depending on their size. In the overall analysis, total WSA decreased by 62.33ha from 2016 to 2022, a percentage change of 0.70%. Besides the areal change analysis, the algae contents of the drinking water resources over the years were examined for the major water basins using the Normalized Difference Chlorophyll Index (NDCI) and revealed their relationship with meteorological factors and urbanization.

Mapping impervious surface change from remote sensing and GIS data: A case study in Hochiminh city, Vietnam

Impervious surface is artificial surfaces that prevent water from entering the soil. The increase in impervious surface area has led to negative impacts on the urban environment, including an increase in the risk of flooding, a decrease in vegetation cover, and the formation of urban heat islands. This paper presents the results of building a predictive model of impervious surfaces in Hochiminh city from remote sensing and GIS data. Landsat and Sentinel 2 satellite images for the period 2002–2022 are used to classify impervious surfaces and extract input layers about vegetation cover, land surface temperature, combined with GIS data (elevation, slope, aspect, distance to road, distance to hydrology, population density) for modeling and predicting impervious surface changes in future. 03 machine learning algorithms, including Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and maximum likelihood method are used to classify impervious surfaces from Landsat satellite images, then select the method with the highest accuracy. To predict the future distribution of impervious surface, this study uses Cellular Automata (CA) model and 02 artificial intelligence algorithms (Artificial Neural Network - ANN, Logistic Regression - LR). The results obtained in the study can be effectively used for urban planning, minimizing the impact of the process of increasing the impervious surface on the urban environment

Quantifying LULC Changes in Constantine, Algeria Using Google Earth Engine

The objective of this research is to analyze land use changes in the municipality of Constantine over a thirty year period (1993 – 2023) using Landsat satellite data provided through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and a supervised classification approach. Five land cover classes were mapped at six key dates: water bodies, green spaces, built-up areas, bare soil and agricultural land. The quantified changes highlight a considerable reduction in bare soil in favor of an increase in cultivated land, as well as an expansion of artificial surfaces during certain periods (2008 to 2023). These dynamics reflect the processes of urban sprawl and peri-urbanization at work in this territory. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of remote sensing through GEE for detailed spatio-temporal monitoring of land use. Coupled with other data, this approach contributes to a better understanding of territorial evolutions and provides valuable information for sustainable land use planning.