Majority Species Research Articles

Object-based fusion for urban tree species classification from hyperspectral, panchromatic and nDSM data

ABSTRACT This study aims at identifying the best object-based fusion strategy that takes advantage of the complementarity of several heterogeneous airborne data sources for improving the classification of 15 tree species in an urban area (Toulouse, France). The airborne data sources are: hyperspectral Visible Near-Infrared (160 spectral bands, spatial resolution of 0.4 m) and Short-Wavelength Infrared (256 spectral bands, 1.6 m), panchromatic (14 cm), and a normalized Digital Surface Model (12.5 cm). Object-based feature and decision level fusion strategies are proposed and compared when applied to a reference site where the species are previously identified during ground truth collection. This allows the best fusion strategy to be selected with a view to introducing the method in an automatic process (tree crown delineation and species classification) on a test site, independent of the reference site used for learning. In particular, a decision level fusion is selected: based on the Support Vector Machine algorithm, Visible Near-Infrared and Short-Wavelength Infrared classifications use Minimum Noise Fraction components at the original spatial resolution, whereas panchromatic and normalized Digital Surface Model classifications use, respectively, Haralick’s and structural features computed at the object scale. After the computation of a decision profile for each source at the object level based on the classification algorithms’ membership probabilities, these decision profiles are combined and a decision rule is applied to predict the species. Focusing on the reference site, the Visible Near-Infrared exhibits the best performances with F-score values higher than 60% for 13 species out of 15. The Short-Wavelength Infrared is the most powerful for three species with F-score greater than 60% for seven common species with the Visible Near-Infrared. The panchromatic and normalized Digital Surface Model contribute marginally. The best fusion strategy (decision fusion) does not improve significantly the overall accuracy with 77% (kappa = 74%) against 75% (kappa = 72%) for the Visible Near-Infrared but in general, it improves the results for cases where complementarities have been observed. When applied to the test site and assessed for the two majority species (Tilia tomentosa and Platanus x hispanica), the selected approach gives consistent results with an overall accuracy of 63% against 55% for the Visible Near-Infrared.

Hyperspectral tree crown classification using the multiple instance adaptive cosine estimator.

Tree species classification using hyperspectral imagery is a challenging task due to the high spectral similarity between species and large intra-species variability. This paper proposes a solution using the Multiple Instance Adaptive Cosine Estimator (MI-ACE) algorithm. MI-ACE estimates a discriminative target signature to differentiate between a pair of tree species while accounting for label uncertainty. Multi-class species classification is achieved by training a set of one-vs-one MI-ACE classifiers corresponding to the classification between each pair of tree species and a majority voting on the classification results from all classifiers. Additionally, the performance of MI-ACE does not rely on parameter settings that require tuning resulting in a method that is easy to use in application. Results presented are using training and testing data provided by a data analysis competition aimed at encouraging the development of methods for extracting ecological information through remote sensing obtained through participation in the competition. The experimental results using one-vs-one MI-ACE technique composed of a hierarchical classification, where a tree crown is first classified to one of the genus classes and one of the species classes. The species-level rank-1 classification accuracy is 86.4% and cross entropy is 0.9395 on the testing data, provided by the competition organizer, without the release of ground truth for testing data. Similarly, the same evaluation metrics are computed on the training data, where the rank-1 classification accuracy is 95.62% and the cross entropy is 0.2649. The results show that the presented approach can not only classify the majority species classes, but also classify the rare species classes.

(Keynote) The Solvation Structure and Rational Design of Liquid Organic Electrolytes

Electrolytes with improved stability and transport properties have the potential to transform the current state-of-the-art Li-ion architectures and enable future technologies such as multivalent systems (e.g., Mg2+, Ca2+ and Zn2+), as well as Li-S and Li-O2 conversion systems. To address the need for novel and optimized electrolytes, in this work, we apply our high-throughput computational infrastructure1 to a range of systems – spanning both multivalent as well as monovalent charge carriers- and present our insights, highlighting the role of careful speciation for rational design of future, improved energy storage concepts. To improve our understanding of structural and dynamical properties of highly concentrated LIB electrolytes, we use classical molecular dynamics simulations with enhanced sampling techniques to allow for correct statistics in these more viscous systems. We describe the modes of charge transport in LiPF6 /propylene carbonate electrolyte in concentrated to superconcentrated regimes and elucidate the minority as well as majority species solvation structures and corresponding atomistic transport motifs. For multivalent systems, we find that the existence of multimeric species, such as contact-ion pairs are vitally important to account for the anodic stability of the electrolyte.2 - 4 The plating process inherently requires the solvated divalent ion to undergo a transient, partially charged valence state; e.g. Mg+ or Ca+, which is identified as the fundamental descriptor for electrolyte stability. We find most solvent molecules as well as ion-paired anion molecules to be highly susceptible to rapid decomposition when in close contact with the reactive partially charged cation, thereby precluding stable, reversible plating behavior. This insight provides a ready explanation why so few classes of solvents and salts have demonstrated reversible Mg and Ca metal plating as well as enabling a path forward for rapid, in silico rational design and testing of novel, highly functional electrolyte molecules. 5

Minority species influences microbiota formation: the role of Bifidobacterium with extracellular glycosidases in bifidus flora formation in breastfed infant guts.

SummaryThe human body houses a variety of microbial ecosystems, such as the microbiotas on the skin, in the oral cavity and in the digestive tract. The gut microbiota is one such ecosystem that contains trillions of bacteria, and it is well established that it can significantly influence host health and diseases. With the advancement in bioinformatics tools, numerous comparative studies based on 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences, metabolomics, pathological and epidemical analyses have revealed the correlative relationship between the abundance of certain taxa and disease states or amount of certain causative bioactive compounds. However, the 16S rRNA‐based taxonomic analyses using next‐generation sequencing (NGS) technology essentially detect only the majority species. Although the entire gut microbiome consists of 1013 microbial cells, NGS read counts are given in multiples of 106, making it difficult to determine the diversity of the entire microbiota. Some recent studies have reported instances where certain minority species play a critical role in creating locally stable conditions for other species by stabilizing the fundamental microbiota, despite their low abundance. These minority species act as ‘keystone species’, which is a species whose effect on the community is disproportionately large compared to its relative abundance. One of the attributes of keystone species within the gut microbiota is its extensive enzymatic capacity for substrates that are rare or difficult to degrade for other species, such as dietary fibres or host‐derived complex glycans, like human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). In this paper, we propose that more emphasis should be placed on minority taxa and their possible role as keystone species in gut microbiota studies by referring to our recent studies on HMO‐mediated microbiota formation in the infant gut.

Apatinib affect VEGF-mediated cell proliferation, migration, invasion via blocking VEGFR2/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways in cholangiocarcinoma cell

BackgroundCholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a form of cancer that easily aggress to contiguous structures. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) are increased in majority species of cancers and suppress tumor progression by blocking VEGF/VEGFR2. Apatinib is a highly selective VEGFR2 antagonist which has inhibitive effect on antiapoptotic and cell growth in CCA. While, the effect of apatinib cell migration and invasion in CCA is still unknown.MethodsCCA cell lines QBC939 and TFK-1 were transfected with siKDR to establish the KDR function loss cell model, and recombined human VEGF (rhVEGF) protein was added into the culture medium to enhance the VEGF expression. RT-qPCR and western bloting were used to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of VEGFR2 to investigate whether it was effectively repressed or activated with rhVEGF or apatinib treatment. Then, MTT, wound healing assay, and transwell matrix assay were applied to measure the effect of apatinib and rhVEGF on cell viability, migration and invasion, respectively.ResultsThe mRNA and protein expressions of VEGFR2 were significantly reduced with KDR RNAi in both QBC939 and TFK-1 cells, and rhVEGF treatment increased these expression levels (p < 0.05). Apatinib dramatically suppressed VEGF-mediated cell migration and invasion at the concentration of 100 nM treatment and significantly decreased the expression of metastasis-associated protein such as Slug, snail and MMP9. Moreover, all of these inhibiting effects of apatinib depended on the VEGFR2 existence. In addition, VEGFR2/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT signal pathways were enhanced by the introduction of rhVEGF, but were dramatically suppressed after the apatinib treatment.ConclusionApatinib inhibit VEGF-mediated cell migration and invasion in CCA cell lines via inhibiting the VEGFR2/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways. It will be a potentially effective targeted drug for CCA.

Tri-stage quasimonoenergetic proton acceleration from a multi-species thick target

We show that quasimonoenergetic proton beams can be generated through a multi-ion thick target irradiated by a circularly polarized laser pulse. After disrupted by the transverse instabilities in the laser pressure acceleration process, heavy ions as majority species can still provide a co-moving electric field. Different from the dynamics using ultrathin foil, protons with small doped rates can experience a full tri-stage quasimonoenergetic acceleration (hole boring, sheath boosting, and free expansion stages) in this scenario. A theoretical model is developed to explain the proton energy evolution in detail and verified by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The scaling of proton energy with laser intensity indicates that the 200 MeV proton beam with narrow energy spread (3%–10%) and sufficiently large charges (1010–1011) required for medical applications can be obtained using 100s TW class laser systems in near future.

Charge ordering in the metal-insulator transition of V-doped CrO2 in the rutile structure.

Electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of pure and V-doped CrO2 were extensively investigated utilizing density functional theory. Usually, pure CrO2 is a half-metallic ferromagnet with conductive spin majority species and insulating spin minority species. This system remains in its half-metallic ferromagnetic phase even at 50% V-substitution for Cr within the crystal. The V-substituted compound Cr0.5V0.5O2 encounters metal-insulator transition upon the application of on-site Coulomb repulsion U = 7eV preserving its ferromagnetism in the insulating phase. It is revealed in this study that Cr3+-V5+ charge ordering accompanied by the transfer of the single V-3d electron to the Cr-3dt2g orbitals triggers metal-insulator transition in Cr0.5V0.5O2. The ferromagnetism of Cr0.5V0.5O2 in the insulating phase arises predominantly due to strong Hund's coupling between the occupied electrons in the Cr-t2g states. Besides this, the ferromagnetic Curie temperature (Tc) decreases significantly due to V-substitution. Interestingly, a structural distortion is observed due to tilting of CrO6 or VO6 octahedra across the metal-insulator transition of Cr0.5V0.5O2. Graphical abstract The V-doped compound Cr0.5V0.5O2 is found a half-metallic ferromagnet (HMF) in the absence of on-site Coulomb interaction (U). This HMF behavor maintains up to U = 6 eV. Eventually, this system encounters metal-insulator transition (MIT) upon the application of U = 7 eV with a band gap of Eg ~ 0.31 eV. Nevertheless, applications of higher U widen the band gaps. In this figure, calculated total (black), Cr-3d (red), V-3d (violet), and O-2p (blue) DOS of Cr0.5V0.5O2 for U = 8 eV are illustrated. The system is insulating with a band gap of Eg ~ 0.7 eV.

A New Test of Copper and Zinc Abundances in Late-type Stars Using Ultraviolet Cu ii and Zn ii Lines*

Abstract We present new abundances derived from Cu i, Cu ii, Zn i, and Zn ii lines in six warm (5766 ≤ ≤ 6427 K), metal-poor (−2.50 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −0.95) dwarf and subgiant (3.64 ≤ log g ≤ 4.44) stars. These abundances are derived from archival high-resolution ultraviolet spectra from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based optical spectra from several observatories. Ionized Cu and Zn are the majority species, and abundances derived from Cu ii and Zn ii lines should be largely insensitive to departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). We find good agreement between the [Zn/H] ratios derived separately from Zn i and Zn ii lines, suggesting that departures from LTE are, at most, minimal (≲0.1 dex). We find that the [Cu/H] ratios derived from Cu ii lines are 0.36 ± 0.06 dex larger than those derived from Cu i lines in the most metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] &lt; −1.8), suggesting that LTE underestimates the Cu abundance derived from Cu i lines. The deviations decrease in more metal-rich stars. Our results validate previous theoretical non-LTE calculations for both Cu and Zn, supporting earlier conclusions that the enhancement of [Zn/Fe] in metal-poor stars is legitimate, and the deficiency of [Cu/Fe] in metal-poor stars may not be as large as previously thought.

Fauna of Spilomelinae from Wuzhi Mountain Nature Reserve, Hainan Island, China (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea, Crambidae)

Fauna of Spilomelinae from Wuzhi Mountain was analysed. There are 95 species in 54 genera of Spilomelinae from this area. One species is newly recorded from China, three genera and thirteen species are recorded from Hainan Island for the first time. Fifty-four genera show 16 distributional patterns and ninety-five species show 14 distributional patterns in this Zoogeographical region of the world. One genus and seventeen species are endemic to the Oriental region. The indicates that Spilomelinae from this area are closely related to the Palaearctic region and next to the Australian and Afrotropical regions; specimens from the Oriental region constitute the majority and most genera and species show cross-region distribution.

Metal–insulator transition in the high pressure cubic $$\hbox {CaF}_{2}$$-type structure of $$\hbox {CrO}_{2}$$

The total energy, magnetic moment, density of states and energy band structures of \(\hbox {CrO}_{2}\) in the high pressure cubic \(\hbox {CaF}_{2}\) (Fm-3m)-type structure are investigated for the first time by using first principles electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory in the local spin density approximation (LSDA) as well as using LSDA + U method. It is revealed from the present study that \(\hbox {CrO}_{2}\) is a ferromagnetic nearly half-metal in the LDA calculation due to almost occupied \(\hbox {Cr-3de}_{\mathrm{g}}\) orbitals in the spin majority species and a tiny electron contribution at the Fermi level (\(\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{F}}\)) for spin minority species. This compound encounters metal–insulator transition (MIT) upon the application of Hubbard-type Coulomb repulsion \(U = 1 \, \hbox {eV}\). Ferromagnetism is preserved in this transition. Application of U increases the electron correlation, which polarizes \(\hbox {e}_{\mathrm{g}}\) orbitals far below \(\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{F}}\) for spin majority channel while in the spin minority channel \(\hbox {e}_{\mathrm{g}}\) orbitals are polarized well above \(\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{F}}\), resulting in opening of a band gap (\(E_{\mathrm{g}} \sim 1.05\,{\mathrm{eV}}\)) in the vicinity of \(\hbox {E}_{\mathrm{F}}\). Coulomb repulsion increases hybridization between occupied \(\hbox {Cr-3de}_{\mathrm{g}}\) and O-2p orbitals, which induces ferromagnetism both in half-metallic and insulating phases of cubic \(\hbox {CrO}_{2}\).

Geospatial technology based diversity and above ground biomass assessment of woody species of West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh

ABSTRACTComprehending the prominence of forest carbon in climate change, this study was piloted in different land use of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh, India to record the floristic composition, community characteristics, and above ground biomass (AGB) carbon using random sampling and geospatial approach. Preliminary field survey was done in 2016. Altogether 45 quadrats (0.1 ha each) were laid. Total tree richness recorded was 164 species from 49 families. Dominance and frequency distribution pattern of species revealed heterogeneity in composition with majority species showing clumped distribution. Plantations showed highest tree density while mixed dense forest showed maximum basal area (58.89 m2 ha−1). Estimated AGB were 218.21 ton/ha for mixed dense forest, 84.94 ton/ha for abandoned forest, and 105.09 ton/ha for plantations. Total estimated carbon stocks were 120.01, 46.17, and 57.80 ton/ha for mixed dense, abandoned forest, and plantations, respectively. Predicted average AGB using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques was 163.25 ton/ha. Field-based AGB was slightly greater than the values observed from satellite data. Findings of the study may be useful for calculating total biomass and carbon stored in the major land cover of the district in particular and region in general. It will also support in future studies for calculating the long-term data on biomass carbon sequestration.

Extinction and survival in two-species annihilation

We study diffusion-controlled two-species annihilation with a finite number of particles. In this stochastic process, particles move diffusively, and when two particles of opposite type come into contact, the two annihilate. We focus on the behavior in three spatial dimensions and for initial conditions where particles are confined to a compact domain. Generally, one species outnumbers the other, and we find that the difference between the number of majority and minority species, which is a conserved quantity, controls the behavior. When the number difference exceeds a critical value, the minority becomes extinct and a finite number of majority particles survive, while below this critical difference, a finite number of particles of both species survive. The critical difference Δ_{c} grows algebraically with the total initial number of particles N, and when N≫1, the critical difference scales as Δ_{c}∼N^{1/3}. Furthermore, when the initial concentrations of the two species are equal, the average number of surviving majority and minority particles, M_{+} and M_{-}, exhibit two distinct scaling behaviors, M_{+}∼N^{1/2} and M_{-}∼N^{1/6}. In contrast, when the initial populations are equal, these two quantities are comparable M_{+}∼M_{-}∼N^{1/3}.

Bioinformatic Survey of S-Layer Proteins in Bifidobacteria

Surface layer (S-layer) proteins are one of the most commonly observed cell envelope components in both Archaea and Bacteria. It has versatile functions and holds considerable application potential in biotechnology. Bifidobacteria are representative probiotics conferring health promoting properties. However, there is little study of S-layer in bifidobacteria yet. The distribution and characteristics of S-layer in bifidobacteria are unknown. In this study, search for S-layer protein in the identical protein groups in NCBI yielded 49 hits belonging to bifidobacteria. These proteins were annotated as either “S-layer (domain) protein” or “putative S-layer (y) domain protein” that distributed among 26 species of Bifidobacterium genus. Multiple alignments suggest S-layer proteins are relatively conservative. Phylogenetic analysis of 24 S-layer (domain) protein sequences groups them into three distinct clusters, with the majority species in Cluster-2. S-layer (domain) protein has a universe motif DUF4381, though its function is unknown. Meanwhile, two other motifs CARDB and EphA2_TM involved in cell adhesion and cell signaling respectively, presented in most S-layer (domain) protein in bifidobacteria. All S-layer proteins have a typical N-terminal Sec-dependent signal peptide and a C-terminal trans-membrane region. Homological modeling of representative S-layer proteins from each cluster revealed a few unique structural features. All representative S-layer proteins have a plenty of β-meander motif that exclusively composed by β-barrel structural architectures linked together by hairpin loops.

Imperfect Trapping in a Random Walk with Both Species Mobile

It is presented here a continuous time random walk model for diffusion mediated reactions with both species mobile. The random walk is carried out over an infinite homogeneouos lattice. They are calculated the probability density for the time of reaction of a pair, the reaction rate and the time evolution of the concentration of the majority species. Analytical results are obtained in the Fourier-Laplace transform representation. Known results for a fixed trap are reobtained with appropriate marginal probabilities. It is thus justified Smoluchowski’s original approximation considering the trap at a fixed position and the majority species diffusing with a coefficient sum of the individual coefficients. The results obtained are illustrated by a one dimensional model with bias.

Surface-flow constructed wetlands dominated by Cladophora for reclaiming nutrients in diffuse domestic effluent

In this work, a surface-flow constructed wetland (SFCW) dominated by Cladophora was used to remove and reclaim nutrients in diffuse domestic effluent (DDE) discharged from rural regions around Taihu Lake, a eutrophic shallow lake in China. Growth rate of Cladophora was investigated and linked to ambient factors and nutrient consuming rates. The growth performances of Cladophora and animal-feed microbes were studied during the commissioning of SFCW. Results show that the growth rate of Cladophora was closely correlated with field temperature and surface irradiance, while surface coverage was suitable for the manipulation of SFCW. Harvest of Cladophora along with animal-feed microbes and removal of nutrients in DDE could be achieved by manipulating surface coverage to drag growth rate back at the end of linear zone and to quickly restore Cladophora biomass in the mid zone of surface growth rate. Among four stages of the commissioning, concentrating stage experienced the majority species of animal-feed microbes and maximal nutrient removal; during decomposing stage, however, the reproduction of animal-feed microbes and nutrient removal were lower, whereas the density of pathogens was higher.

Étiologies fongiques et facteurs favorisant les intertrigos inter-orteils chez les gendarmes à Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

Fungal interdigital tinea pedis are poorly documented in Ivory Coast. This study aimed to determine the distribution of fungal species and contributing factors of the disease among policemen in Abidjan. Our cross-sectional study was carried out at the police school in Abidjan. Our patients consisted of symptomatic or non-symptomatic police students. Samples of scales or serosities taken from inter-toes spaces were examinated with KOH mount and cultured on Sabouraud-chloramphenicol and Sabouraud-chloramphenicol-actidione media. The method of identification depended on the observed fungus. Among the 303 police students with clinical lesions of the inter-toe folds, 233 (76.9%; IC 95%=71.9-81.4) had a positive diagnosis after mycological examination. Lesions were predominantly located in the 3rd and 4th interdigital plantar spaces, with desquamation (100%) followed by maceration (82.5%) as the predominant functional sign. Dermatophytes accounted for 86.3% of the strains isolated with as majority species: Trichophyton interdigitale (40.3%), Microsporum langeronii (30.0%) and Trichophyton rubrum (15.5%). Yeasts accounted for 13.7% of the strains with Candida albicans (7.7%) as the most found species. The duration at the police school (P=0.004) and the practice of sports activities (P=0.0001) were statistically associated with the occurrence of the disease. A good hygiene of feet would reduce the incidence of the disease among the defense and security forces. Also, investigations for the influence of the seasons in the occurrence of interdigital tinea pedis will allow a better understand of epidemiology of this dermatomycosis.

Universal and anomalous behavior in the thermalization of strongly interacting harmonically trapped gas mixtures

We report on the dynamics of thermalization by extending a generalization of the Caldeira–Leggett model, developed in the context of cold atomic gases confined in a harmonic trap, to higher dimensions. Universal characteristics en route to thermalization which appear to be independent of dimensionality are highlighted, which additionally suggest a scaling analogous to turbulent mixing in fluid dynamics. We then focus on features dependent on dimensionality, with particular regard to the role of angular momentum of the two atomic clouds, having in mind the goal of efficient thermalization between the two species. Finally, by considering asymmetry in species numbers, we find that nonlinear interspecies interactions provide a mode locking mechanism between the majority and minority species, relevant to recent experiments involving Fermi–Bose mixtures in the normal phase.

Prediction of Species-Specific Volume Using Different Inventory Approaches by Fusing Airborne Laser Scanning and Hyperspectral Data

Fusion of ALS and hyperspectral data can offer a powerful basis for the discrimination of tree species and enables an accurate prediction of species-specific attributes. In this study, the fused airborne laser scanning (ALS) data and hyperspectral images were used to model and predict the total and species-specific volumes based on three forest inventory approaches, namely the individual tree crown (ITC) approach, the semi-ITC approach, and the area-based approach (ABA). The performances of these inventory approaches were analyzed and compared at the plot level in a complex Alpine forest in Italy. For the ITC and semi-ITC approaches, an ITC delineation algorithm was applied. With the ITC approach, the species-specific volumes were predicted with allometric models for each crown segment and aggregated to the total volume. For the semi-ITC and ABA, a multivariate k-most similar neighbor method was applied to simultaneously predict the total and species-specific volumes using leave-one-out cross-validation at the plot level. In both methods, the ALS and hyperspectral variables were important for volume modeling. The total volume of the ITC, semi-ITC, and ABA resulted in relative root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 25.31%, 17.41%, 30.95% of the mean and systematic errors (mean differences) of 21.59%, −0.27%, and −2.69% of the mean, respectively. The ITC approach achieved high accuracies but large systematic errors for minority species. For majority species, the semi-ITC performed slightly better compared to the ABA, resulting in higher accuracies and smaller systematic errors. The results indicated that the semi-ITC outperformed the two other inventory approaches. To conclude, we suggest that the semi-ITC method is further tested and assessed with attention to its potential in operational forestry applications, especially in cases for which accurate species-specific forest biophysical attributes are needed.

Isotope effect on filament dynamics in fusion edge plasmas

The influence of the ion mass on filament propagation in the scrape-off layer of toroidal magnetised plasmas is analysed for various fusion relevant majority species, like hydrogen isotopes and helium, on the basis of a computational isothermal gyrofluid model for the plasma edge. Heavy hydrogen isotope plasmas show slower outward filament propagation and thus improved confinement properties compared to light isotope plasmas, regardless of collisionality regimes. Similarly, filaments in fully ionised helium move more slowly than in deuterium. Different mass effects on the filament inertia through polarisation, finite Larmor radius, and parallel dynamics are identified.

Etching and Chemical Control of the Silicon Nitride Surface.

Silicon nitride is used for many technological applications, but a quantitative knowledge of its surface chemistry is still lacking. Native oxynitride at the surface is generally removed using fluorinated etchants, but the chemical composition of surfaces still needs to be determined. In this work, the thinning (etching efficiency) of the layers after treatments in HF and NH4F solutions has been followed by using spectroscopic ellipsometry. A quantitative estimation of the chemical bonds found on the surface is obtained by a combination of infrared absorption spectroscopy in ATR mode, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and colorimetry. Si-F bonds are the majority species present at the surface after silicon nitride etching; some Si-OH and a few Si-NHx bonds are also present. No Si-H bonds are present, an unfavorable feature for surface functionalization in view of the interest of such mildly reactive groups for achieving stable covalent grafting. Mechanisms are described to support the experimental results, and two methods are proposed for generating surface SiH species: enriching the material in silicon, or submitting the etched surface to a H2 plasma treatment.